Painting Over the Harsh Words
by American50Amber
Summary: They all try to find a way to deal with it, some are successful, some are not, some give in and break. When you are pushed to your limit, do you give up, or do you fight back? These students are definitely ready to battle, but will they win? They already have enough to deal with, are they ready to fight for what is right? Once you deliver the message, there really is no going back.
1. Don't forget to wash your hands

I quickly wrapped the clay coils I made with a wet paper towel and shoved them in a plastic bag. I bounced impatiently when my shaky hands wouldn't allow me to properly seal the bag. After the third attempt, I finally succeeded. Letting out a squeal of triumph, I carefully put the perfectly sealed clay into my plastic box, then put the box in the teacher's storage closet. Once they were in a safe place, I rushed across the art room. Ceramics is very enjoyable, just not during the last period. I jumped at the sound of a student dropping a fiddling knife, the noise resembling a bell. I really hoped that I was able to make it. Why didn't I have a simple class during the last period? One where I only had to put a binder in my backpack and leave would have been nice. I finally reached the table with my now finished vase on it, sitting on the table completely covered in dry and wet clay. I picked up the vase with much care and admired it, forgetting about my task for a moment.

_This project is going really well! _I thought as I made sure that the inside was knitted together correctly, _now I have to do is leave it on the window sill so that it can dry. Then tomorrow I will have to sponge it to smooth out the edges, they look a little sharp, and will only get more pointy in the kilm. _I slowly made my way to the window, watching my every step to make sure that I didn't trip over any backpacks. Even in a rush, there is no way that I would risk dropping an art project. The clay is still soft and it would just be a worthless pile of smushed clay if I dropped it. Once I approached the window sill, I proudly sat my clay vase under the shining sun.

_Oh no! The bell will ring any minute!_ I ran back to my table, no longer keeping watch if I would trip or not. I snatched the bowl of water that I used and dumped it in the sink. I then wet a sponge and started to scrub the clay off of my table viciously. The wet pieces attached to the sponge as I ran the sponge over the dry clay that stuck to the black tiled furniture continuously. I rushed to the sink to clean the sponge again once I noticed that I was practically cleaning the table with wet clay.

I jumped at the sound of a loud and continuous ringing that came from the speaker on the wall, as the rest of the students cheered in joy. I stumbled clumsily back to the table and went over it once again with the sponge the speed of lightning. From where I stood, I tossed the sponge into the sink and strapped my backpack over my shoulder.

_I'm going to miss the bus again! I just know it!_

"Have a good afternoon Feliciano," Mr. Marv said as I neared the front of the room. "Good job with that vase, most of my students don't know how to make a coil, while you didn't need my help once while making the whole project." Mr. Marv was a very jolly man. He was slightly chubby, and the wrinkles on his face accented his friendly smile. If he wasn't bald and if he had a white beard, I would mistake him for santa clause. He was quick with a joke, and would give you a passing grade with even the worst of finished sculptures.

"Thank you Mr. Marv, I even have coils left for the next project. It's not finished yet though, I still have to sponge it, then it would be ready for the kilm."

"I know, try to clean up earlier by the way. I see you running across the room like a wild goose every day near the end of the period. You better get going, you don't want to miss your bus."

"Oh right, my bus!" Without saying goodbye, I sprinted out of the art room and down the halls. My breath quickened and my heart was beating faster. I am no athlete, and I get tired easily, but I can run really fast when I need to. Adrenalin took control of my body as I burst out of the school and hurried to my bus.

_Please don't make me miss it, please don't make me miss it! I have to catch my bus!_

My heart almost stopped when I heard a roar from the buses that were ready to take off. I saw a flash of yellow as I opened my eyes to scan the bus numbers. My eyes lit up as I saw that I was almost to mine. Just as the bus door was about to close, I slipped through and entered the large vehicle. "Damn, you are lucky boy," said the elder bus driver. "I was just about to drive off too." I ran my hand through my hair and sighed with relief. My bus driver shows no mercy for those who are late, you could be an inch away from the bus, and he will take off on you.

I nodded as I scanned the bus, that's weird, Lovino usually saves a spot for me at the front of the bus. I shyly searched for an empty bus seat to find out that I will have to sit with somebody. "C-Can I sit with you?" I asked a tall intimidating man with blonde hair.

"Ja," He said. I sat down thankfully and avoided eye contact with the scary man. I then felt a buz in my pocket, I flipped open my cell phone to read a text from my brother.

_My bastard of a teacher is making me stay after since I didn't turn in my lab. Who the hell cares about fucking physics anyways? -Lovino_

I smiled at the text, it sounded so much like him that I could practically hear his voice. I was about to reply when I noticed something on my hands, wet clay. Only then did I realize that I had never washed my hands. I stared blankly at my phone that was now covered in the grey mud, along with my backpack, and my clothes, and my hair. I let out a whine and allowed tears to form in my eyes when I finally came to terms that everything was ruined.

"Are you alright?" The blonde asked.

I shook my head and buried my head in my hands, which didn't help the situation since I now felt the clay stick to my face. "Everything is a mess!" I cried.

"No it is not, we just have to clean you up," He responded. The man pulled out a handkerchief and started to wipe the clay off of my face. I tried to stay still, but my body was still trembling from the sadness I felt.

"There's no point, it will never come off!"

"Just calm down and give me a minute, no moving!" He said sternly. I let out a squeak in fear and was ready to pull out a white flag, but that would require moving. You cannot disobey a command while you're surrendering! That will only make them angrier! I stood still and let him wipe the clay off with the soft fabric. "What is your name?" He asked trying to kill the awkward silence between us.

"Feliciano Vargas," I answered.

"That's an interesting name, do you have anything to do with that Italian restaurant down town? The name of it is Vargas."

"Si! My family owns it, I actually work in the kitchen as a chef." I said with a smile.

The blonde stopped wiping my face, and moved to my hair. "You're a great chef then, I love the food there. Even though there are not a lot dishes with potatoes on the menu. It's a nice restaurant."

"Grazi! Sorry about the potatoes, it's an Italian restaurant so tomatoes are the main ingredient for most of the dishes." I paused when I realized that I never got his name. "What is your name?"

"Ludwig," He stated as he scrubbed my backpack.

"I like your accent, are you German?"

Ludwig nodded, "My bruder and I moved here from Germany a couple of years ago."

"Cool!"

"So how is it that I have never seen you on this bus before?" He asked.

"I usually sit with my brother in the front so I don't really talk to anybody else on this bus."

The german nodded thoughtfully, "Let me see your phone now, I'm almost done." I handed the phone to him and he wiped the now dry clay off of the electronic. "There, you see? You are not a complete mess, you're all clean again."

"Thank you so much Ludwig!"

Before I could say anything else, the bus came to a stop and Ludwig stood up. "I have to get off now, I will see you around I guess." I nodded enthusiastically and he exited the large yellow bus. I took out my phone to finally reply to my brother.

_Alright Lovino! Good luck with your lab! I met a new friend today, you should meet him! He's very friendly, and I think that you two would get along great together. I'll tell Antonio that you will be late to work, he can cover you until you get to the restaurant. Hasta la pasta! -Feliciano_

XXX

**Author's note: I'm pretty sure we can all agree that Romano will not like Italy's new friend...**

**Alright so Italy is listed as the main character, but many other characters are focused on. Italy is listed as the main character because he is the poster boy of Hetalia. Unlike most hetalia highschool fanfictions, romance is not the main focus. There will be pairings though, I have not planned the pairings yet. So leave a suggestion about who you think should be a pairing for this story! Future chapters will be longer. For some reason the first chapter for every one of my stories is very short. **

**XXXxxxXXX Every Hetalia character is a highschool student, parents and teachers will be my OCs that I make up XXXxxxXXX**

**For those who do not take ceramics:**

**Coil: clay rolled into long tubes (like a snake)**

**Kilm: oven to bake the clay in**

**Fiddling knife: a very dull knife just sharp enough to cut clay**

**Knitting: Clay doesn't just stuck together. You have to scratch the sides that you want to attach, add water to act a glue, then knit it. This is when you put each piece of clay over each other. Much like knitting only with clay.**

**What the sponge is for: Once the clay is dried, before you put it in the Kilm, you should wet a sponge, and rub the clay with it. This will smooth out sharp edges.**


	2. Vargas- Welcome to my personal hell hole

**Warning: Romano... do I really need to say anything else? I'm pretty sure that we all know what Romano's like. (There's swearing and extreme racism towards Germans)**

I ran out of the school out of breath and gasping for air. I hunched over, and supported myself by putting my hands on my knees. I watched helplessly as the yellow school buses were driving further and further away.

_I guess being late runs in the family. What now? I'm already late for work, if I have to walk all the way there then I won't make it before my shift ends. At least Antonio is there to cover for me. He can only do that for so long before the place gets mobbed with customers and he's too busy however._

I regained my posture, and looked around for any ideas. Off in the distance, I could see Gilbert throwing his backpack into his car.

_He's in my math class, he's a complete idiot, but maybe he will give me a ride._

"Gilbert!" I called. He glanced up as I ran to him, I was once again breathless by the time I reached the car. He tapped his foot impatiently waiting for me to speak. "Can... you give me a ride? I missed my bus."

He gave me a wicked grin, "Say I'm awesome, and I might consider it."

"I'm awesome," I replied bluntly.

He sighed, "Let me rephrase that, you have to say that 'Gilbert is an amazingly awesome person' then I will give you a ride."

"Fine, Gilbert is an ama-"

I was interrupted as I heard a chirp coming from the car, a yellow bird landed on Gilbert's shoulder. "Scratch that, now say that 'Gilbert _and_ Gilbird are amazingly awesome.' Then you'll get your ride."

"Whatever, Gilbert an-" I was then interrupted by a ringing in his pocket. Whatever patience I had was now gone when I exploded, "Sei fottuto scherzando? Just give me a fucking ride!"

"Alright fine, I see that you're not awesome enough to admit that I'm awesome. You'll come around someday, just get in the back." I opened the blue car door and sat down in the back seat. Gilbert then took the phone to his ear, "Sie sprechen mit dem schrecklichen Preußen, was wollen Sie?" There was a pause, the persone on the other line was probably speaking. "Oh hallo Westen! Was wollen Sie Bruder?" I stared at him as confused as ever at the confusing language he was speaking. "Italienisches Essen? Schrecklich ging ich gerade da drüben, ich werde Sie bald aufnehmen. Auf Wiedersehen!" Gilbert then ended the phone call, and got into the driver's seat. "You're heading over to Vargas, right?"

I glared at him skeptically, "How did you know, you stalker!?"

My words did not offend him, "My brother and I head over there all the time, we love that place. Antonio usually waits on us though, not you. Speaking of that, I have to pick up my little brother so that we can eat there together."

"What language were you speaking?" I asked.

"German."

I almost gagged, "I thought that you said that you're Prussian?"

"I am, I know German though, and my brother is German."

I did not like the idea of being in the same car as a nazi. _I hate Germans, _I thought. _They are just a bunch of macho potato lovers who can never get a date. Even if they did get a date, they would probably try to train them for their Hitler military!_

"We don't have time to pick up your brother! I'm already late for work!" I tried to reason.

Gilbert just shrugged, "You're late, I don't think that it would matter if you were a little more late. Anyway, it's just a ten minute drive from here, it's in the direction of Vargas too." He shoved the keys in the ignition, and turned on the engine. He slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the car was forced forward with an ear slaughtering screech.

"WHAT THE HELL YOU FUCKING BASTARD? YOU DRIVE LIKE FELICIANO!" I screamed as my head whipped back with the sudden burst of speed.

"Hey, do you like German music?" Gilbert asked calmly with a smile. I stared at him deadpanned.

_He's going to kill us in a car crash and that's what he's thinking about?_

I answered anyway with my usual answer with any question about anything German, "No I fucking hate Germans!"

"Alright I'll play some German music!" Gilbert cheered with an evil grin spread across his face. Soon the car was bouncing from the music, all I could hear was an electric guitar and a person screaming in that disgusting language. After a couple more minutes of that torture, the car came to a sudden stop and the seat belt tightened around me when I jerked forward.

"Did you really have to drive so fast?" I asked.

The Prussian turned off the music, "You said that you were running late." He then honked the horn a couple of times. I looked outside of the window to see that we were parked in front of a large house. It was white with red shudders and a red door, the lawn was clean, not a single leaf out of place. It looked like one of those houses you would see in a magazine.

_Well this is a German's house, of course it's neat._

The red door opened and a tall man with his blonde hair slicked back stepped outside. He walked on the brick pathway to the blue car, he watched me with his light blue eyes as he opened the door, "Who's-"

"Ludwig, meet Lovino," Gilbert said cutting him off. "He's in our school and missed the after school bus, asked me for a ride to the restaurant."

"Oh yes, you're one of the waiters right?" The German asked.

"Fuck off," I muttered.

"He's that cranky waiter that always yells at Antonio," Gilbert explained.

"Oh, that explains the attitude," Germany said in a barely audible voice, most likely not intended for me to hear.

"I do have ears you know!" I growled and crossed my arms.

The potato bastard turned to me from the passenger seat, "Sorry."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Should we get going?"

"Yes, just don't stomp on the gas pedal and go as fast as you can," Ludwig said.

"How did you know that I was going to do that?"

"I know you too well," Ludwig replied.

XXX

The car slowly came to a stop in the parking lot of the restaurant Vargas. This time the Prussian drived a little more carefully since he was being watched by his brother. I killed every attempt Ludwig and Gilbert made to drag me into one of their boring conversations. I just stared out of the window and thought about how the hell I was going to avoid being caught just coming into my shift.

_Fuck it, If I get in trouble then I get in trouble._

I got out of the car and slammed the door while Ludwig was trying to convince Gilbert that he shouldn't bring his bird into the restaurant. Without saying thank you or goodbye, I stormed away from the car and pushed open the front door. I was suddenly greeted by one of the employees that I never bothered to learn the name of. "Ciao, welcome to Varga- oh hi Lovino. You sure are lucky, the manager just went on break. I know that you of all people wouldn't want to deal with her."

"I sure wouldn't," I said. My grandfather left the restaurant to me after he died along with his whole life savings. However, my parents have control of the restaurant until I turn eighteen. While my dad handles the paperwork, my mom made herself manager. Which is why Feliciano is a chef, and I am just a waiter. I rushed to put my uniform on then made my way to the eating area. The walls were covered in paintings, pictures, and just any kind of art from Italy. The place was swamped, almost every table was filled, and everybody's voices drowned out the soothing Italian music. I walked up to Antonio, "Hey bastard, I'm here, give me a table."

"Lovino!" Antonio cheered causing me to roll my eyes. Every time he sees me he acts like it has been ten years. "Things are getting really busy and the diner rush has yet to come! I was starting to think that you wouldn't come at all."

"Well I'm here," I stated simply annoyed with his cheerful attitude.

"Well there is a table over there that I haven't gotten to yet." I stared over at Gilbert and Ludwig sitting at a table. "They're in our school, I sit at their lunch table. You probably don't know them though."

"I wish."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Alright, well I have to go and get these orders to the kitchen."

We both walked away from each other and I approached their table, "May I take your order?"

"Hey Lovino!" Gilbert called, "Where's Antonio?"

"He's busy," I said.

"Oh, alright, well I want some Pepsi."

"I'll have water," Ludwig said. I just nodded and started to write the order down.

_Potato Table:__ 1 pep 1 H2O_

"Coming right up," I said in the neutral voice that I used with all of the customers I waited on.

_Just because they gave me a ride, doesn't mean I'm going to start treating them like my friends._

I waited on a couple of other tables and looked down at my note pad

_Potato Table: 1 pep 1 H2O_

_Blonde slut Table: 5 diet sodas_

_Creepy old guy: 1 lemonade_

_Nervous date Table: 1 sprite 1 H2O w/lemon_

I carried a tray with all the drinks in my hand, trying hard to balance. Just when I got to the Potato Table, I collided with Antonio. I fell to the side as the glass cups crashed to the floor. As my body slammed onto the hard tiles, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle. The chitchat was gone and I could hear the classical music clearly now. All eyes were on Antonio and I. Antonio was on the floor across from me, covered in spaghetti and tomato sauce.

"I'm sorry Lovino! Are you hurt?" Antonio asked.

"This is your fault you bastard!" I yelled before remembering that everybody was still watching me. I forced myself to calm down a little more, "Just clean yourself up," I muttered.

"What about the food?"

"Tell Feliciano to make some more, then clean yourself up."

"Are you sure?"

"Just go you bastard!" Antonio scrambled to his feet, and rushed to the kitchen. I pushed myself up to a sitting position and checked my ankle. I sighed with relief when I found out that it was only twisted, and not sprained or broken. I used a nearby table for support to get back on my feet, to see Gilbert and Ludwig staring at me, "What?"

"That was some nice fall you had there," Gilbert said with a laugh.

"Shut up! Anyway, are you ready to order?" I asked miserably.

"Ja, oh and your notepad fell on our table when you and Antonio had your epic fail." Gilbert handed the notepad to me.

"Why are we the Potato Table?" Ludwig asked.

"That's because you're a fucking German, and that's the only thing Germans care about." I growled.

Ludwig looked offended and Gilbert let out an awkward laugh, probably just to break the tension, "Anyway, I'll have the lasagna."

"I'll just have a plate of pasta."

"Would you like that with a side of potatoes?" I asked him.

He glared at me, but before he could respond, my brother ran up to me, "Lovino! Antonio said that you bumped into each other and fell, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I muttered.

"What about your ankle!? Antonio said that it looked like it was broken!"

"It's fine, it's just twisted."

"Well, I brought the dust pan out to you and- hey! Ludwig!"

"Hello Feliciano," Ludwig said with a polite nod.

"Do you two know each other?" I asked confused.

"Si! He's my new friend that I was telling you about! I met him on the bus!"

_Oh how fucking wonderful, he's friends with a fucking German bastard! I'll have to talk to him about it later._

"Yes, it is nice seeing you again," The potato bastard said.

"Yes! You should try the pasta here, it's really good!"

"That's actually what I ordered," Ludwig said.

"Yay! I'll cook it then, and what do you want?"

"Lasagna," Gilbert said, "and make sure that it's awesome."

"Alright! Sorry Lovino that I can't help you clean up, but Antonio will be back with a mop in a bit." With that I watched my happy brother walk away humming a song that I didn't recognize. I rolled my eyes and kneeled down on the ground to start collecting the shards of glass with a broom.

"So how was detention?" Ludwig asked Gilbert.

"It was completely not awesome!" He burst out.

"Well it's your fault for getting in trouble in the first place." I tuned out Gilbert's story about how he got detention and his excuse on how it's not his fault, instead I focused on moving the pieces of glass into the dust pan. I was hoping to get this chore done before my mom came out, but it seems that my luck ran out the second I started taking orders.

"Lovino? What happened?" She demanded.

"Antonio and I fell."

"Well clean it up! The money for those broken dishes are coming out of your paycheck!"

"You can't do that! It wasn't my faul-"

"Of course I can! I am the manager," My mom growled. "Clean it up."

"I am cleaning it up!" I shouted in frustration. "And it wasn't my fault!"

"I don't want to hear any excuses! The only thing you can blame this on, is your own clumsiness."

"But Antonio-"

"I said that I don't want to hear any excuses, this is coming out of your paycheck!"

"Multa!" I yelled angrily. The manager walked away, satisfied with the opportunity to yell at me. I grumbled swear words in Italian as I continued to sweep up the spaghetti. Just as she left, Antonio returned with a mop and no longer had food in his hair.

"Lovino, are you alright? I saw the manager just leave, did she yell at you?"

"I'm fine, and don't worry you're not in trouble."

"Are you?" I didn't respond and just continued to clean up the food. "Lovino, are you alright? Did she upset you?" I didn't look up, but I didn't need to. He was probably looking at Gilbert and Ludwig, eyes pleading for an explanation. I let my bangs cover my eyes as Gilbert explained to Antonio what happened. I could just feel Ludwig's icy blue eyes staring at me. I just focused on shoving the pasta onto the dust pan, hoping to avoid all conversation.

"Lovino, if you want I can talk to the manager and tell her that it was my fault. Maybe she will let up on you."

"It won't work, and she will just find another way to get me in trouble. Just leave it, I don't care." I growled.

_The bastard has to take a hint once in a while that I want to be left alone!_

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am fucking sure. Just mop that shit up and continue with your shift." Without looking back, I limped to the kitchen, hopefully Feliciano has something for me to serve. "Fratello, did you cook anything yet?"

"Si! Here's Ludwig and Gilbert's food, and I have the drinks that you dropped."

"Thanks," I muttered. I carefully grabbed the tray of beverages and headed to the first table I saw. "Here are your diet sodas," I told the Blonde slut Table and placed the drinks onto the white table cloth.

"Well it's about time clutz," one of the blonde girls called rudely.

I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but this is not only a customer, but a girl. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yes," They said. I wrote down their orders white trying to ignore their snobbish comments in-between each request. I then traveled to the rest of the tables and handed out their drinks. I was covered in the feeling of dread once I realised that I only had one cup of Pepsi, and one cup of water left to deliver. After what happened, I definitely don't want to see those two. I had to travel across the restaurant anyway even though I did not want to. Oh how I would love to be in Feliciano's place instead. I love to cook, not serve people who I don't even like and have to be polite to them. Feliciano actually likes people, why can't he have my job instead and I have his? Then I remembered my parents and their place in the restaurant. This place is practically a dictatorship!

"Here you go," I mumbled as I placed the glass cups onto the Potato Table.

"Thank you," Ludwig said. "By the way, the way that you didn't let Antonio get in trouble was... nice."

I turned to Ludwig with a glare, "Eat bullets you dumb potato lover," I growled. I then walked to the kitchen, putting a little more pressure on my twisted ankle to get their diner. I only had one thought in mind.

_I can't wait until this shift is over!_

XXX

**Author's note: You were warned... Romano is one racist Italian. Every thing he said about Germans is not true, don't believe a single word. That was just Romano being Romano. Please review, and thank you for reading! I hope you liked the chapter! I still need pairings for this story, so I am open to suggestions. Alright so I brought the awesome into this story, Gilbert and Gilbird are going to be in here a lot. So prepare for the awesome.**

**Time for translations:**

**Italian:**

**Sei fottuto scherzando?= Are you fucking kidding me?**

**Ciao= Hello**

**Si= Yes**

**Fratello= Brother**

**Multa= Fine**

**German:**

**Sie sprechen mit dem schrecklichen Preußen, was wollen Sie?= You are speaking with the awesome Prussian, what do you want?**

**Oh hallo Westen! Was wollen Sie Bruder?= Oh hello West! What do you want brother?**

**Italienisches Essen? Schrecklich ging ich gerade da drüben, ich werde Sie bald aufnehmen. Auf Wiedersehen!= Italian food? Awesome I was just heading over there! I will pick you up soon, goodbye!**

**I used the internet to translate this, and everybody knows how wonderful the internet is with translation... I take French, not German and Italian. So if it is all wrong then please just focus on the english parts of the story, that's the better part anyway.**


	3. Dreaming big

I shut my car door and jogged back into the Italian restaurant, It was a relief that my wallet was in my car, for a moment I thought that I lost it. I carefully walked around the table, making sure that I didn't trip over any chairs. I returned to our table and sat down waving the wallet around victoriously, "Guess who found their wallet?"

Ludwig sighed with relief, "Good, I was worried that we wouldn't be able to pay for our meals."

I nodded, "I did too until I found my awesome wallet."

"How much was the bill again?"

"Twenty eight dollars."

"Leave fifty."

I stared at him shocked, "Why so much?"

"It looked like our waiter was having a rough night," Ludwig said while rubbing the back of his neck.

My smile grew, as I figured out where this was going, "Liar."

"I'm not lying."

I gave Ludwig a confident smirk, "Yes you are! You want to be nice to Lovino, because he is the chefs brother!" I moved my eyebrows up and down suggestively, "You want to leave an impression on the cute Italian responsible for your meal, don't you?"

Ludwig blushed, "That is not true! I am just feeling generous!"

"With my money? I don't think so! You better admit that he's your crush or else his brother is not getting a tip."

"I'm not admitting anything! I don't have a crush on him!"

My smile grew as I decided to change tactics, "Well I do not see why you wouldn't have crush on him, he is extremely cute. I should ask him out myself!"

"East!"

"He seems really cute, sweet, and funny. Anyway, it would be nice to be dating such a wonderful cook."

"Bruder!"

I saw feliciano in the distance, handing Lovino a couple of plates to deliver, "Feliciano! I have something important to ask you!" I called. I then turned to face Ludwig, "I guess since you do not like him, I should use the opportunity to ask him out." I laughed at Ludwig's horrified expression, "Wish me luck, although I don't really need it. I am irresistable after all." I stood from the table and walked across the room, ignoring Ludwig's complaints. I walked up to Feliciano, who had waited patiently for me. "Hello Feliciano, I just wanted to ask you something." I put on a polite smile to cover my smirk as I heard Ludwig rush up to stand beside me.

"What is it Gilbert?"

"Well I just think that it would be awesome if you would-"

"Fein gebe ich es zu! Ich mag ihn, und nicht nur auf eine freundliche Weise!" Ludwig whispered harshly.

I pulled out the check with the fifty dollar bill in it that has rested at my side the whole time, "please give this to Lovino. We don't want to put him through the trouble of having to return to our table once again after his big fall." I placed it in Feliciano's hands.

Feliciano nodded enthusiastically, "I can do that for you! Have a good night, and I'll see you around at school."

"Dito," I quickly responded as I turned to exit the restaurant.

Ludwig followed closely behind, "You weren't going to ask him out were you?"

I shook my head and snickered, "No, that was just one of my genius plans to get you so confess your likeing for him!"

"Bruder!"

I pushed open the door and walked outside, "What?"

"Y-You can't just mess with me like that!"

"I can, and I did."

"Well then I'm going to get you back," Ludwig stated calmly.

I snorted, "You haven't made up one single devious plan ever, and you think that you can get the king? I don't think so, I would love to see how you are planning to do that!"

"Do you remember Roderich?"

"How could I forget? He sits at our table."

"Do you remember how you felt about him?"

"Ja, _felt _is the key word. I don't feel much for him anymore. Get with the program Ludwig, that was last year!"

"Well do you remember Elizabeta? His _girlfriend_."

"Again, she sits at our table, I can't really forget."

"Well, they broke up."

I stared at Ludwig in shock as I fumbled around my pockets for the keys to my car, "What!? When did this happen? Nobody told me!"

"It happened last week, I think that it's you who has to _get with the program_," Ludwig said with a smile.

"I thought that was just another one of their stupid fights?"

Ludwig shook his head, "They are over with, maybe you don't have any feelings for Roderich anymore, but I know that Elizabeta is a completely different story."

I started sweating as I unlocked the car door, "I don't know what your talking about." I slammed the car door shut as Ludwig sat down in the passenger seat.

"Sure you don't, just wanted you to know before I start my devious planning." Ludwig said with a small smirk.

"W-When the hell did you get to cocky!? What happened to the blonde German with a stick up his ass? He was a nice guy, I used to live with him!"

Ludwig laughed, "I guess he took a vacation."

"Well I hope he gets back soon, because right now some evil mastermind took his place." Gilbird jumped from the back seat and landed on my shoulder, chirping in agreement.

"We should start heading back before Mom and Dad come home," Ludwig said.

"You always say that, _better get home before Mom and Dad! We must be back before seven! _and when do they come home? I'll tell you when, ten at night! They always have to stay late for something. Their rules are stupid too! _Don't go out of the house while we're gone now Gilbert, and Ludwig. Some big giant monster will eat you if you step off of this property without us! If the monster doesn't eat you, then we will! Now drop down and give me twenty! _It's like we're in the damn witness protection program and must not meet anybody!"

"They don't say that, you over exaggerated it," Mr. Rules said, quick to defend his precious rules so that he can follow them to the ends of the earth. "Also they are just trying to protect us."

"Alright Mr. Rules, if you say so. In my opinion they are trying too fucking hard to protect us!"

"What did you just call me," Ludwig asked with narrowed eyes.

"Mr. Rules."

Ludwig nodded, "I think that I should call Elizabeta, and tell her to bring her frying pan to school."

"I think that I should call Feliciano, and ask him out."

"Then I will call Roderich, and tell him that you, Francis, and Antonio are coming after him again."

I chuckled as I backed out of the parking lot, "We have too much blackmail on each other, don't we?"

Ludwig laughed, "I guess we do."

"Truce?"

"Hell no, I haven't got you back yet."

"I'll be waiting then." The rest of the car ride consisted of me switching from paying attention to the road, to paying attention to Gilbird, which got me yelled at by Ludwig of course. I pulled into the driveway of our house as it was starting to darken. I shut the car door, waiting for Gilbird to get out and locked it. I ran up to the front door and shivered.

_I really should have brought a jacket, it's starting to get cold outside!_

I unlocked the door with a quick turn of the house key and ran inside, ready to bundle up in a pile of blankets. Ludwig closed the front door and want streight to the kitchen. "Why do we have to cook them diner anyways?" I asked while walking into the kitchen.

_I wish I could curl up in that pile of blankets now_

"If we cook them diner, not only are we being nice, but we are also not giving away the fact that we eat out every single night." Ludwig said.

"All we really have to do is toss a couple of plates, some pots and pans even into the dishwasher and we're good! We don't have to make a whole fucking meal!" I complained.

Ludwig shook his head, "We should still make something for our parents."

I let out a groan, "I don't feel like it!"

"Alright, I'll just call up Elizabeta then-"

"Fine! We'll cook something!" I usually gave up easily with this argument, since it happens every night. "So where do you want to go tomorrow? I'm thinking Chinese food, there's a good Chinese buffet down town, all you can eat. I love their chicken there!"

"Alright, since I picked tonight, you can pick tomorrow," Ludwig opened the fridge to look for food. "We should cook them wurst and potatoes."

I nodded, "Hand me a beer while you have your nose stuffed in the fridge."

"You know that you're not allowed to drink in this country, your underaged."

"Another good reason to move back to Germany, anyway that hasn't stopped me in the past. It hasn't stopped you either!"

_He's talking like he hasn't had a beer for the whole two years we have been in America!_

"Good point," there are only two rules that Ludwig easily breaks, the first one is not going out of the house while Mom and Dad are at work. The second one is no drinking alcohol until one is twenty one. I'm pretty sure that he followed that rule for a whole hour before breaking that the first time we moved here. It took me five minutes to break it. Ludwig always had a stronger conscience than mine, like I would care!

XXX

I carefully placed a plate on the dining room table and assorted the silverware beside it. Ludwig did the same to the seat across from mine, he then placed the wurst and potatoes on the center of the table, covering it with tin foil. I poured a can of beer into two separate glass cups and placed them next to the plates. I dimmed the lights, and Ludwig turned on classical music that would play softly in the background. I grabbed the vase full of flowers in the center of the table and filled it with fresh water. I then placed it back onto the wooden piece of furniture. Once everything was in place, I stepped back to look at the scene, "Damn do we know how to set up a romantic diner!"

"Well we have to do it every night, so I figured that we should know how to."

I shrugged, "Well now Mom and Dad will be happy when they come home, what time is it?"

Ludwig read the large grandfather clock, "It's seven thirty."

"Alright! Just give them three hours and they will be home!"

"They haven't called yet, maybe they're coming home on time."

"They're already thirty minutes late, they can't come on time."

"Well maybe they're-" The ringing of my cell phone interrupted him.

I gave Ludwig a knowing look before answering the phone, "Hello?"

"Hello, Gilbert! It's me, your dad and I are held up at work, we will be home around ten."

"Alright mom, diner is waiting for you on the table as always."

"Thank you Gilbert, I have to go, bye!" I heard I quick click and soon came the ringing of a dead line.

"I love you too Mom," I said sarcastically before flipping my phone closed. I turned to Ludwig, "Guess how long they are staying at work?"

Ludwig shook his head, "I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up everyday."

I patted his back, "It's alright West, they're just busy all of the time, anyway they always have Sundays off, so we have that to look forward to! You should go start your homework."

"I should say the same thing to you, I saw your report card and it isn't pretty."

"When I open up my own restaurant, I will be my own boss, and I won't have to worry about report cards!"

"Here we go again with the restaurant," Ludwig muttered, annoyed with the story that I have been telling for years. I kept on going anyways, once I start, there is no stopping.

"It will be as large as a castle!" Ludwig let out a groan. "The parking lot will be huge, but not big enough to park all of the starving customers, the crowd will be big enough to run a line down the whole country! Once you walk in the double glass doors," I motioned with my hands as if I were opening a door, "You will be greeted by the friendliest guy known to man. You will be lead to your table, that sat under a beautiful chandelier. Then you will be served by the fastest waiter ever! Then you will receive your food. The food! The food will be from all over the world! You can have Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, American, Mexican, every country's food will be in there, hell, I'll even throw a couple of English meals in the menu to satisfy the people! The food will not cost a fortune either, it will be a reasonable price for such large portions! You will leave with full stomachs and full pockets!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes, but I continued. "Then a news crew will be outside of the restaurant, interviewing the smartest man in the world who was very hesitant to leave his heaven of a business to be interviewed by these wannabes. They will go _Gilbert the great! We came here to congratulate you for your five star restaurant, who hasn't ever recieved a bad review ever since you opened this master piece! What ever inspire you to make such a successful place?"_

"I will just say, 'well, it started when my bruder and I always went out to eat. After eating from so many restaurants and eating meals from so many countries, it inspired me to make this restaurant. It is a mix of all culture, and all kinds of food! There is nothing as unique as this! Well I am sorry Mrs. Reporter, the performers are coming soon, and I want to greet them myself.'"

"Then the reporters would stare at me longingly, wishing that I could answer more questions, but Mr. Awesome has his responsibilities! The staff and customers would cheer as I entered the restaurant, I would know them all by their first name of course. I would stop at the tables and make small talk with the people, because not only will the restaurant have nice service, but we will treat each other as long known friends! I would then greet the performers, and maybe get a table for myself to enjoy their talent. I know that they would be honored to have the owner of the joint watch their performance."

T"hen by the end of the long and enjoyable night, I would be helping my staff clean up, ready to head to the office in the back of the building to do some paper work. On my way there, I would stop and look around. Then I would say, 'Gilbert, you did a well good job. Everybody's proud of you. Keep your head held high, and reach for the stars!' I would never stop, I would always find a way to improve the restaurant because there is no such thing as perfection! With each change, the restaurant would be better and stronger, ready to take on the worst critics and change any moody person into the life of the party! My restaurants will spread from Germany, to all over Europe, Asia, and Africa. Hell, maybe it will make it to the states. Think of it Ludwig, in twenty years or so, there could be one of my restaurants right down on Main Street!"

Germany laughed, "If only you did your homework as much as you thought this through, you would have 90s in every class."

"This is bigger than any homework assignment in the whole entire world!" I cheered still in my fantasy land. I could still see the happy customers and the cheerful staff.

"Well I'm going to start my homework, you should too." Ludwig opened the door of his room. "By the way, you should try to stay out of detention."

"When I-"

"When you open your restaurant, you won't have to worry about getting detention, I know bruder." The door closed behind him with a soft click.

I went to my room and closed the door excitedly, I rummaged through the papers of my desk until I found my old sketchbook. I opened it and skipped past the doodles of Roderich being eaten by Gilbird and went right to the drawings of the restaurant. I frowned once I realized that I forgot to finish drawing one of my customer's happy smiles. I placed the opened sketchbook onto the desk, and looked through another drawer for colored pencils. Once I found a tan color, I finished drawing his lips. I'm not much of a drawer, I don't even take art classes or anything, but the restaurant looks so realistic, that one would think that I have been drawing my whole life. It makes my dream practically come to life. I examined the picture once more, once the man's smile was finished. Everything was drawn in extream detail. Even the picture on the wall twenty feet from the customers was detailed. Yes I predicted the measurements, it's twenty feet. I flipped through the sketchbook. This was the fifty seventh complete drawing of the restaurant, not even counting the ones I didn't color. Every picture was from a different angle, they changed over time though. Throughout these drawings, It changed much. From the color of the napkins, to the pictures on the wall, to the silverware.

_Maybe I should change the table cloth._

I stared down at the table cloth in the picture, it was white with a red ribbon pattern. I frowned.

_Red? Did I come up with this when I was drunk? How unawesome! I should change it to blue, what kind of blue though? aqua? No aqua is a sucky color, how about royal blue? Yes! Royal blue is awesome! I'll have to start a new picture though, I'll make a note and do it tomorrow, right now I'm tired!_

I wrote down my thoughts on a sticky note and stuck it to the back along with the others.

_Change the ribbon pattern on the table cloth from apple red to royal blue, no aqua!_

_Make a golden fountain designed from Gilbird's good looks, he should be part of the awesome plan also._

_Put the hot blonde from drawing #17 in the next drawing, I want her to be a regular._

_Draw another waiter, the restaurant is getting more busy._

_Add newer appliances in the kitchen, the chefs deserve it._

_Make the next drawing a privet party, I want to see how that would look!_

I nodded at the notes I made long ago, for each new drawing, I made a new note that would improve the restaurant. I looked over my shoulder, Gilbird was curled up on the window sill, I made a small bed for him there. He liked the view. I decided that I should be getting to bed also, it was about eight at night, but I didn't care. I was tired, and awesome people sleep when their tired! I shoved the sketchbook into the desk drawer, flicked off the lights, and jumped into bed.

_I guess I can always do my homework in the morning!_

XXX

**Author's note:**** So what do you think with my take on Prussia? I say that his dream is awesome, he just thinks about it too often. Sorry about the slow update, it has been a while, I was busy. I also wanted to work on my other story because it is more popular and more readers were waiting for it than this one. It is just as important though! Alright, so I'm thinking that we switch to France next chapter. I love France! So Austria and Hungary broke up... What do you think is going to happen? Once again, I am still accepting requests for pairings! I hope that everybody had a nice Christmas/ holiday/ day in general if you don't celebrate anything. I wanted to do a Christmas special chapter for this, but like I said I was extremely busy! The next update will happen MUCH sooner than this one.**


	4. Oui, ma mère

I opened my eyes when I heard the sound of my radio turning on, I groaned when I realized why it's on.

_Do I really have to go to school today?_

I slammed my hand lazily down on the snooze button, and lied in the darkness. One of the many things I hate about winter is how dark it always is, it is dark in the morning, and dark in the afternoon! I always hated it! How did the summer go by so fast? Sometimes during the summer the sun would still be in the air at nine at night! I missed those days. Then I had to watch the days slowly get darker throughout fall, and here I was. It was winter, it was five in the morning, and it was completely dark. How can anybody see my gorgeous hair in the dark?

The radio came back on and I let out another groan. I unplugged the machine, sat up from my bed, and turned on the lamp on my nightstand. The room was decorated with pictures of Paris and paintings by Monet, my favorite artist. Oh how those lily pads look lovely! I would be lucky to find myself in such beautiful scenery. I rubbed my eyes and reached for my glasses, a secret that only I will ever know. No way am I ever going to be known as the nerd with thick glasses! They even had tape on the bridge of the frame, from the time that I nearly broke them. I hated those glasses, they were the stereotype of a nerd's accessory! Don't get me wrong, a lot of people look wonderful in glasses, but I just look like a dork, begging for anyone to beat me up.

_If Arthur ever found out, he would tease me forever. The black sheep insult would be nothing compared to what he would have on me!_

That thought made me jump up from the comfy piece of furniture, and run to put my contacts in. I stared into the mirror at my bright blue eyes, they always looked much better without glasses. I rubbed the stubble on my chin with my hand.

_I would look so young without it, should I shave it?_

I shook my head.

_What if I cut myself? That would suck! I look like a big brother anyway!_

In my neighborhood, I was always the oldest. It was nice being the oldest in the group. Other kids like Feliciano would always look up to me and ask me for advice. It was as if being the oldest, made me the wisest, which I'm probably not. I always went along with it though, it was like a complement. I washed my hair and dried it with my hair dryer. I ran my hand through my golden locks, it was soft and fluffy, it came down to my shoulders, it would look like a girl's hair style on anybody else. On me, it looks wonderful and manly, it must be the beard that does the trick. I quickly got dressed and slid down the railing of the stairs.

"Francis!" Ma mère yelled.

"Oui, Mère?"

"What did I tell you about sliding down the stairs?"

"Don't do it?"

"Oui, and you will not do it again, do you understand me?"

"Oui, ma mère."

"Bon, now come to the dining room, breakfast is ready." I followed her to the dining room and plopped down in the seat. I supported my head on my hand and let my hair cover my face. "What kind of posture is that? You better sit up and get that elbow off of my table!" I automatically moved to the edge of the seat and set my back at the straightest angle possible. I kept my head up, and made sure that I kept my elbows off of the table.

"Je m'excuse, I guess that I am just tired."

Mère stared at me sternly, "That is no excuse, whether you are tired or not, you always keep a perfect posture especially when you are eating a meal at the table. Have you forgotten everything that I taught you overnight?"

I shook my head quickly, "Non! Of course not! I just wasn't thinking."

"Well you are to start thinking more," She said while spreading some butter on her bread.

"Oui ma mère."

"Also stay afterschool today and get help with your English. I know that it is an ugly language, but you still have to do better with it."

"Oui ma mère."

"Don't ask our neighbors for help though. The language might be important, but I hate the English! You hate the English also, understood?"

"But Arthur is my friend, actually he often is the one who helps my with my Engl-"

"Well, he is not your friend anymore, do not socialize with our neighbors. They are just a bunch of drunks, I'm surprized that they could afford such a big house. I figured that they would have gambled all of their money away by now."

"That is not true, they are really hard working and successful. They don't gamb-"

Mère put her piece of bread down and glared at me, "Are you trying to argue with me?"

"Non! I-It's just that Arthur is not a-"

"Drunk?" The woman sitting in front of me laughed. "Of course he is a drunk, dear, where ever did you get the idea that he isn't? You hear all of the arguing in the middle of the night. If his brothers are drunk, then he must be also."

"Mais ce n'est pas vrais." I said quietly. "He told me that he doesn't drink alcohol like his brothers."

Mère turned to me and looked me in the eye, "Well, people lie. Now finish breakfast, I do not want you to miss the bus." She stood from her seat and wrapped a scarf around her neck. She stared through the mirror hanging on the wall for a minute as she adjusted her brown hair. "I have to get to work, au revoir. Also stay out of the snow! I don't want your jacket getting ruined, I just bought that for you." Without waiting for a reply, she opened the front door, and left. I sighed as I heard the car engine start, and the tires roll over our salted driveway. With a sudden loss of appetite, I picked up my plate, and put it in the dishwasher.

I stared out the window as the sun was starting to rise. I stared in wonder as the sunrise reflected off of the snow. That is one thing I love about winter, snow! Snow is beautiful! I love everything about it. It is the one thing that can make Winter the best season ever! Winter would be so boring without snow, I don't know what I would do about it. I ran from the kitchen all the way to the front door and threw on a coat, a scarf, and a matching hat. I opened the front door as I was putting on my gloves. I snatched my backpack, and locked the door behind me.

I looked around as I heard the door lock and slowly stepped down the porch stairs that was covered in ice. Now not only was it sunny out, but there was snow! A heard a door slam shut, I jumped at the noise. I glanced over to the house next to me. I heard an angry Englishman rumpling to himself as he locked the front door with his key. "Bonjour Arthur!"

The blonde turned to me with a scowl on his face, "What did I say about calling me Arthur? Call me Art until you are able to pronounce my bloody name right!"

"I did pronounce your name right!" I complained.

"No, my name is Arthur. You said Arzur."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Arthur."

"There it is again! If you can't pronounce it, then just call me Art."

I sighed, "Fine, whatever you say, Art. I can't believe that we have school taday, we have a foot of snow on the ground!"

"I know, they probably didn't want to give us a day off on the second day back from Winter break." Arthur looked around in disgust, "I hate snow. It's just frozen rain."

"Snow is wonderful." I waited for Arthur to carefully descend his porch stairs. Then he walked up to me and we started to walk to the bus stop together.

"How the bloody hell is snow wonderful?" Arthur asked. "It's wet, cold, and annoying as hell to shovel!" He continued his rant on all of the negative things about snow as I slowed my pace. I walked slower as he continued to ramble on about winter. Once I was about five feet behind him, I picked up a clump of snow and began mushing it into a ball.

"You should just think about the positive things about snow!" I called.

"Like what?"

"Like this!" As he turned around to face me, I chucked the ball of snow directly at him. The snowball exploded in his face and he now had snow all over him. He turned around to spit out snow I got in his mouth as I doubled over laughing.

"That is not funny you arsehole!" He shouted.

"What? I cannot hear you over my laughing!"

The Englishman bent down and picked up a ball of snow. I dashed past him, trying to put as much distance as possible between us. I jumped when a snowball crashed on the ground a couple feet away from me. I almost crashed into the crowd of high school students as I reached the bus stop. I ran to a random lawn, and collected as much snow as I could in my hands. Arthur ran up to the bus stop and chucked a snowball at me as hard as he could. "No!" I screamed as it slammed into my shoulder. I glared at him while forming another snowball in my hands, "I will defeat you Art!"

"Why does this happen every morning?" One of the students asked.

"Yeah, why can't I have a normal bus stop?"

We ignored their complaining in the heat of battle. I tossed another snowball at Arthur which hit him in the knee. A girl cried out as Arthur hit her in the head with a snowball which would have hit me if I didn't move aside. "I'm sorry!" Arthur yelled. The girl glared at him as her friend helped her take the snow out of her hair.

Suddenly I heard a beep, I turned my attention away from the snowball fight as a blue car pulled up to me. The window rolled down, revealing Gilbert holding a foam cup of coffee. "Hey Francis do you want a ride?"

I nodded while dodging another snowball. I opened the car door to the back seat after hitting Arthur with another chunk of snow. "Damn you bloody frog!" Arthur yelled after me as snow collided with his backpack.

"See you at school Black Sheep! Bahhh," I slammed the car door shut and Gilbert stomped on the gas pedal, most likely leaving a bunch of smoke behind us for all of the students.

"That was hilarious mi amigo!" Came a Spanish accent. I turned to the right, to see Antonio sitting next to me.

"Antonio! I didn't even see you there!"

"No, you were too busy making sheep noises at Arthur," Antonio said laughing.

I glanced at the passenger seat to see Ludwig sitting there too. "Hello Ludwig, nice to see you."

Ludwig nodded, "You too." He turned his head to Gilbert, "Is there anybody else you want to pick up? Any teachers, or hoboes, or the whole entire school possibly?"

Gilbert laughed, "Nope, just these guys. Hey Francis, what are you going to do about all of that snow on you? You better not leave it all in my car! I paid seven hundred dollars for this baby!"

"Simple, I'll just let it melt into my clothes."

Antonio looked at me in concern, "Won't you get all wet? You will be freezing!"

I shrugged, "No I will not, this school has good heating!"

"Won't your mom murder you or something when she sees that her precious little Francis got his fancy clothes wet?" Gilbert teased.

"My clothes will probably become dry by the time I get home."

"Well just in case, I suggest that you go into the school bathroom, and crouch under the air drier for a bit," Antonio said.

"Thank you Antonio."

"No hay problema, after all, we would hate to see Mama's boy recieve a spanking," Antonio said. Gilbert snickered as he took a sharp turn.

I crossed my arms defensively, "I am not a mama's boy!"

"Oh relax Francis! We were just messing with you!" Gilbert laughed, "Anyway if you're getting so defensive about it then it _must_ be true!"

"You get defensive every time I joke about you wanting to fuck Elizabeta, so is that true?"

"Oooooooooooooooh," Antonio said while covering his mouth.

Gilbert honked his horn to avoid answering the question, "Why the hell are you driving so slow? You're driving like this is the first time it snowed in New York!" Gilbert screamed. The car swerved to the left and Gilbert flipped the driver the bird as we drove past him. Antonio and I burst out laughing as Ludwig shook his head.

"Bruder he was just trying to be careful," Ludwig said.

"Careful my ass!" Gilbert swerved the car into the parking lot and we jumped outside.

"Tomorrow can we pick up Lovino also?" Antonio asked.

Gilbert looked at Ludwig, Ludwig shook his head. "He usually sits with his brother Feliciano on the bus."

"How would you know?" Antonio asked defensively.

"My bruder has a crush on Lovino's bruder," Gilbert said.

"Ohonhonhonhonhon!"

Ludwig blushed, "You don't have to tell the whole school!"

Antonio and I walked into the school leaving the German brothers to their bickering. We walked through the school doors to be greeted by the loud volume of everybody in the hallway talking at once. This is not a quiet school, that I can tell you for sure. "Did you get your report card over the weekend?"

I nodded, "My English grade does not look good."

"Oh English, that's a hard one. I'm barely passing that class."

"Mrs. Sohote est une chienne," I reached my locker and started doing the combination.

"I can agree with that! I have to go, see you at lunch!"

"Bye Antonio!" I called over my shoulder. I took off my jacket, hat, scarf, and gloves and placed them in my locker.

_I'll have to run them under the air drier like Antonio said later._

I groaned as I entered my homeroom

_Why do I have to have English first?_

"Good morning Francis!" Mrs. Sohote called.

"Bonjour Mrs. Sohote," I greeted.

"It's Good day, not bonjour." She corrected. I hated how she always translated everything I say from French to English. It's not like I didn't greet her correctly, I just didn't greet her in English.

"Right," I muttered while plopping down in my seat. Arthur stormed into the classroom, not even giving the teacher a greeting before sitting down in his desk and glaring at me. I chuckled and waved to him playfully. I opened my backpack and pulled out my English binder, there's a quiz, I might as well study for it. Luckily it's only a ten question quiz about the definitions of Greek and Latin routes. We have one every week, these kinds of quizzes are actually not that hard. It would have been better if it were multiple choice though, that would be much better. I paid no attention to the morning announcements as I studied the routes over and over again. Why did we have to learn these anyways? It's not like I would ever have use these route later in life! Sure, maybe they help you define a word, but a dictionary can also do that!

"Good morning class," I looked up to see Mrs. Sohote absent-mindingly shuffling some papers. Her wrinkled face wore her usual cranky frown, and her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She wore a black long-sleeve dress , and dark blue high heels. "You will not have the extra five minutes to study for this quiz, for you should have done it yesterday." The class let out a loud, complaining moan, "Be quiet!" She yelled sternly. Once there was complete silence, she continued. "Your New Years resolutions all should have been to work harder in English class, especially with all of those poorly written essays you gave to me before break! Now here is your test, and-"

"Excuse me, can we have Arthur Kirkland and Francis Bonnefoy come to the guidance counselor's office please?" Came a scratchy voice from the speaker hanging on the wall.

As she turned around to answer, I silently celebrated the opportunity to miss a couple minutes of my most hated class by fist pumping the air. The students who saw it laughed as Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes they can." She turned back to the row of desks, gesturing with her hand for Arthur and I to leave the class room. I picked up my English binder from the vandalized desk I placed it on, and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I walked out of the door as Arthur followed. The second Arthur closed the door behind us, he pushed me into one of the lockers, "You frog! Why did you pelt me with snowballs?"

I laughed as I lightly released his grip on me, "I did it because it is funny."

Arthur crossed his arms, "No it wasn't!"

I laughed as I continued to walk down the hall way, "If you say so," I sang. "So what do you think the counselor wants with us?"

"Well we're important members of the student body council, it could be anything."

"Whatever it is, I'm glad that I don't have to take that English quiz."

"It's quite easy, didn't you study last night?"

I shook my head, "I don't wanted to."

"It's, I didn't want to, not, I don't wanted to." Arthur corrected as we took a left. "Learn how to speak English properly!"

"I do speak proper English! Passè compossè is just hard!"

"Well you're going to have to learn it sooner or later."

"I choose later!"

Arthur sighed, "It's really not that hard, It's like speaking in present tense, only conjugating it."

"I hate conjugating!" I whined. "Can you help me learn it?"

"No way! I'm not going to help a person that attacked me with snowballs just thirty minutes ago," Arthur said.

"If you do not help me, then I am telling everybody about your playboy magazines you hide under your bed!"

Arthur stopped in his tracks, "How do you know about that!?"

I smiled, knowing that I was winning this argument, "You invite me over to your house too often, your playboy bunny calendar is under your bed too. I cannot wait for spring, because Mrs. May sure is fine!"

Arthur threw his hands in the air in defeat, "Fine! Meet me in the library right after school."

"I be there!"

There was a pause, "You need help with speaking in the future tense also, don't you?" I gave him a small nod, "Dammit Francis! You have been taking English for how long now?"

"Hey! I know many people who take French since fifth grade, and can still barely manage speaking a single sentence in French."

"It's, took, not take."

"Grammar Nazi!" I called him as I slid down the railing of the stairs. He came running down the steps, not rebel enough to slide down.

"I thought that you wanted me to help you with English?"

"That doesn't mean you have to correct every single word I say!"

"No, I have to correct every word you say _wrong_," Arthur corrected.

We arrived at the counselors office and I shut the door behind me. I turned to the lady at the desk, she had her curly black hair tied into a messy bun, she rested her feet on the desk as she leaned back in her chair. She held an opened book in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. "Hello, we-"

"You were called here for reasons that I don't care about, Mr. Penn is waiting for you in his office," She interrupted in a flat voice. She wore a bored expression as she loudly chewed bubble gum.

"Oui, mercy."

"Whatever, just leave."

I gave her a nod and walked down a small hallway that lead to many of the school counselor's offices alongside Arthur, "Somebody has to teach her some manners!" Arthur muttered. We entered a door to be greeted by a small office that one could barely walk around in. It was a small room about the size of a walk in closet, with just a computer desk, and two cushioned chairs, the room was cramped. We took a seat at the chairs and faced the man sitting in the computer desk. Mr. Penn has to be one of the nicest adults in the building. I don't know one single student who disrespects him. He's kind, friendly, and has the most patience in the world. I'd be surprised if he ever raised his voice in his life.

"Hello boys," Mr. Penn greeted from his desk.

"Good morning Mr. Penn," Arthur said. "Were you the one who called us here today?"

Mr. Penn nodded, "Yes I am, don't worry, you're not in trouble," I let out a silent sigh from relief. "I just wanted you two to be the ones to show a new student who is coming to the school around."

"We are happy to do that!" I said cheerfully. "Where is this new student?" We were usually the ones to greet new students, it was always interesting. Sometimes we even got permission to skip classes because of it.

"He is not here yet, but his parents contacted me earlier."

"So when is he coming?" Arthur asked.

"In a week."

"Well what is his name?"

"His name is Alfred. F. Jones, he is moving here all the way from Texas."

"Zut! Why Texas? Their egos are bigger than their state?"

"Francis, you shouldn't stereotype them," Mr. Penn said. "I grew up in Texas. Alfred is just a normal student, I want you to be really nice to him when he arrives, alright?"

"Yes, Mr. Penn," we said in unison.

"Good, now I have kept you away from class long enough, you should go." We said our good byes then left, glaring at the front desk lady as we exited into the hallway.

"Alfred is definitely not a normal student," Arthur said as I closed the door.

"What makes you think that? Do you think that he has a big ego too?" I asked while walking besides him.

Arthur shook his head, "Mr. Penn never informs us about new students a whole week before they arrive to the school, he usually tells us the day they arrive. Something's fishy."

"Maybe he's mentally disabled," I suggested.

"Possibly, we'll never know until he gets here. Now let's get back to English class." I let out a groan as I climbed up the stairs.

XXX

I twiddled my thumbs as I studied the clock, There were just five more minutes until English class was over! "Francis," Somebody whispered. I turned my head to Matthew staring at me, "Why were you and Arthur called to the councilor's office?"

"A new student is coming from Texas, we're part of the student council."

"Oh I see," Matthew said. "Is his name Alfred?"

Arthur looked over from his seat, "How the bloody hell do you know?"

"He's my brother, he's coming to New York to live with my mom and I."

"So is there anything different about Alfred? Anything that would have the councilor tell us about him so early?" I asked.

Matthew paused for a moment to think, "He was homeschooled in Texas."

Arthur and I gave each other a knowing look. _That explains it!_

"So why hasn't he lived with you and your mom before?" Arthur asked.

"Well, our parents split up when we were very little."

"What happened to the Da-"

"Francis! Unless you want a detention, I suggest that you stop talking," Mrs. Sohote warned.

Before I could respond, the bell rang. I jumped out of my seat with my backpack in hand, and rushed out of the classroom to continue my day. I could only think of one thing as I saw Gilbert and Antonio walking towards me in the hallway.

_If Mère saw how I acted whenever I was at school, I would be in a foster home by now._

XXX

**Author's note:**** Sorry, I promised that this would be updated 2 days ago, I'm very late. Sorry! The past couple of days have gone absolutly horrible for me, so now I am just exhausted, and I'm glad that it's Friday so that I can finally get some sleep. **

**Alright, so this story is going to be very long. I am eventually going to focus on every Hetalia character, but I'm focusing on these characters until I get furthur into the plot, then I will give you more: Italy, Romano, Spain, Prussia, Germany, France, England, and eventually Canada and America when America moves from Texas. Don't worry you awesome Canadians, not even Canada's invisible powers can keep him out of the focus of this story. Just because I am focusing on these characters for a while, doesn't mean that the rest of the characters are dead. They will still be in there, just as minor characters until I focus on them.**

**French Translations: I translated these myself.**

**Mère= Mother**

**Oui ma mère= Yes my Mother**

**Bon= Good**

**Mais ce n'est pas vrais= But it is not true**

**Au revoir= Bye**

**Mrs. Sohote est une chienne= Mrs. Sohote is a female dod (I didn't know how to say bitch)**

**Next chapter will be in England's point of view!**


	5. The forgetful Churrist

Gilbert and I walked up to Francis in the hallway, "Hola mi amigo! You survived another day in English?"

France nodded, "Actually Mr. Penn call Art and I down to his office during class, so I miss all of the boring parts of English today."

"Why?"

"A new student comes down from Texas in a week."

"Oh, that explains it, can I borrow a binder or something?" Francis gave me a questioning look, Gilbert snickered because I already told him why I needed it. I sighed, "I forgot my backpack at home!"

Francis burst out laughing while pushing past a freshman walking slowly in the crowded hallway, "how in the world do you forget to bring your backpack to school?"

"It just happened!" I cried. I don't even know how I forgot it! I didn't even notice until I sat down for my first period class and reached for my binder, only to realize that my backpack was gone.

Francis snorted, "Alright, we'll have to go back to my locker; I have a binder in there that I am saving just in case one of mine broke. You can have it for the day, then at least you can take notes.

"Gracias!" I cheered. We made a quick U-turn in the hallway, causing some students to glare at us. I ran up the stairs, ignoring the sudden collision with another guy's shoulder. Students flowed into the classrooms, leaving it less crowded in the hallways. This only meant one thing; the bell was going to ring any minute now. Francis and Gilbert ran towards Francis' locker closely behind me. My shoes slid a couple inches past my target as I came to an abrupt stop. I desperately pulled on the lock a couple of times, in hope that it would open.

Francis rushed to my side and began to dial the combination, "We're going to be late, hurry up!" Gilbert yelled. Soon after, a couple of teachers closed their classroom doors in response to Gilbert's sudden outburst.

"Got it!" Francis cheered as he swung open the locker door. He rummaged through his winter coats he has stored in there, and handed me a thin, black binder. I snatched it and we began to run towards math class. The only good thing about math class is that it was the only class that Francis, Gilbert, and I have all together, not counting lunch.

"What are we going to tell Mrs. Smith?" I asked.

"We'll do what we always do when we're late," Gilbert said. I snickered knowing where this was going. Mrs. Smith was awesome, she would always laugh along with us, and she had a great sense of humor. One at a time, we slid down the railing, if only we had sunglasses and was wearing suits, we would have looked so bad ass! Just as our feet hit the ground, a loud bell rang, declaring that we were late. We ran down the hallway so fast that I could actually feel wind rushing through my curly brown hair.

Once we were in the math wing, I burst open the first door I saw, revealing a completely silent class, taking notes, "Sorry that we're late!" I turned my head to see Francis and Gilbert still in the hallway, staring at me in confusion. There was a moment of silence, as I held the door, waiting for them to follow me. They still didn't make a move, I furrowed my eyebrows, "What?"

"That's not our classroom," Francis whispered.

"What?" I asked in confusion. I stared at the teacher frozen at the board, he had a white comb-over, thick eyebrows, and his face was decorated with aged wrinkles. That was definitely not Mrs. Smith. My face heated up from embarrassment and I let out a nervous laugh, "Sorry about that, carry on." I then quickly closed the door and stared back at Francis and Gilbert. They stared at me back for a second before doubling over from laughing.

Gilbert wiped away tears forming at the corner of his eye, "That was classic, you just made my morning Antonio! Seriously, you're a mess today. First you forgot your backpack, then you just burst into the wrong class, I can't wait to see what happens next!"

I couldn't help but laugh at myself, my face now turning red from laughing instead of embarrassment. "I guess that is just how my day is going." One thing that I learned long ago, is that it is better to just laugh at yourself along with the others and let it go, instead of getting flustered and feeling embarrassed. It brightens your day instead of ruining it. "Let's get to class, the right class."

We were laughing all the way to the correct math classroom and burst through the door. There was silence as everybody looked up from what they were doing, thankful for the distraction from math. "You three better have a good explanation for why you are late," Mrs. Smith said sternly.

Francis gave me a nod and I gave Gilbert a knowing look, it was his turn to start this time. "Well you see, we were saving the world, just this morning. Instead of warning us not to be late, you should be bowing down to your heroes!"

Some of the students rolled their eyes, but what do they know about fooling around? Our math class was full of students who never could understand our inside jokes. I turned around to shut the classroom door, taking the excuse to hide my smirk. "Is that so? Now please tell me, you had four minutes to get from your former class to here. Exactly how did you find the time to save the world?"

"The evil force we fight against slow time down, so that it has time to try to destroy the innocent people!" Francis continued. "We stop that evil force though!" Gilbert covered his mouth, and I turned back around to see the teacher smiling playfully.

"So what was this evil force?" She asked.

Oh crap it was my turn! Trying not to laugh out loud from the story so far, gave me no time to think about what I was going to say. Francis and Gilbert stared at me, amusement sparkling in their eyes. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "A GIANT CHURRO!"

Francis and Gilbert lost it there, Francis dropped his backpack from laughing to hard, and Gilbert had to support himself with the teacher's desk. "YES! It was a giant churro! It was thousands of feet tall and it was as thick as a valley! We had to stop it!"

Francis let out a snort, "I know that it sounds very scary, but it's even worse than it sounds! As a weapon, it shoots out frog legs to hurt the innocent citizens of New York!"

"The churro was very powerful and big, we could barely stop it!" I said.

"Then as almost all hope was lost, a very heroic yellow bird started eating the churro," Gilbert continued. I was not surprised at all that he included Gilbird.

"With the distraction of trying to kill the bird Gilbird, we get another chance to attack! Antonio, Gilbert, and I throw roses at the churro! The thorns are very sharp and the churro dies!"

"Then we found out how to unfreeze time and tried to make it to class, but we had to pick up all of the roses lying around, so we were a little late," I concluded. Gilbert and Francis nodded their heads in agreement.

Mrs. Smith let out a chuckle, "Very amusing, boys. That story was even better than yesterday's. What was that one again?"

"A dancing llama," Francis answered. I high fived him for it since he was the one who made up the topic for yesterday's story.

Mrs. Smith nodded, "Yes, well I guess that I can't give you detention for your very... interesting reason for tardiness. However, I will have to mark you late."

We nodded enthusiastically, yes! We have once again avoided detention! Well at least Francis and I have, Gilbert always finds a reason to get detention from his other classes. "Thank you Mrs. Smith!" I said while we took our seat.

"You guys are so stupid," One of the snotty cheerleaders next to me whispered.

I frowned as Gilbert and Francis took a seat next to each other a couple of rows away. They're so lucky, how come they get to sit together and I'm stuck alone surrounded by these mean cheerleaders? Even though they were a couple of rows away, Francis and Gilbert still heard her comment. "You're just not awesome enough to see that we are smarter than you will ever be," Gilbert retorted. I gave him a thankful look before opening my black binder to a blank sheet of lined paper.

The girl was about to respond before Mrs. Smith spoke, "Be quiet class, the lesson is beginning now." The cheerleader gave me one last glare before turning to her own math binder. "Now this is really easy, we have learned about it yesterday, and you should already be able to ace a test about this." The Geometry teacher picked up a thick pile of neatly stacked paper and started passing sections of it to each person sitting in the front of each row of desks. "Here is a packet on locus points that I want you to work on for the entire period, just for practice. I do not believe that it is necessary, but you can team up in a group of two or three to work on it together." My eyes lit up from her last sentence and I quickly stole a glance at Francis and Gilbert who gave me a slight nod. I let out a silent sigh of relief from knowing that I won't have to work on this alone. The person in front of me handed me a pile of paper. I took a single packet, and passed the rest back, "I know that the packet is a little thick, but you have the whole period to work on this. Also whatever you do not finish in class will be your homework. Now get started, I need this period to grade your tests that you took before winter break. I went to Montana to visit my family over the break for Christmas, I had absolutely no time to grade anything."

I jumped up from my seat and followed Gilbert and Francis to the back corner of the room. Since it was January, and there was a drafty window in the back corner of the room, we would be pretty isolated from the rest of the classroom, those wimps thought it was way to cold to even sit anywhere close to that window_._ We pushed three desks together and hopped into the seats with our packets in hand. "Who else wants to just fool around all period and work on this when we get home?" Gilbert asked. Francis and I both nodded in agreement, "Good!"

We spent most of the time laughing and talking. I took out a sheet of paper from the black binder and started drawing, "What are you drawing, Antonio?" Francis asked.

"I'm drawing the _evil force _that we fought this morning," I answered. I drew a quick outline of rectangles of different sizes at the bottom of the paper to represent a city. Then behind the outline of the city, I drew a giant floating churro and passed it to Gilbert. He then decided to draw Gilbird on top of the churro and passed it to Francis. Francis drew a bunch of roses and passed it to me. I added a cloud at the top of the paper and put a dancing llama on top of the puffy doodle. Gilbert snorted once he saw the change I made. Francis and Gilbert passed it back and forth a couple of times before handing it to me, fighting the urge to fall out of their chair laughing. I stared at the changes.

_Francis, I AM YOUR FATHER!_ Gilbert made the churro say in a talk bubble.

I stared at a small outline of a figure flipping the giant churro off. Right next to the shadowed figure, I saw another talk bubble. _Nice try giant churro, but the only father I have is God!_

I stared at the top of the page once again, _Exactly, I AM YOUR FATHER!_

_Nooooooooooooo! _I read at the bottom of the page.

"God is really a giant churro?" I wondered out loud. Francis, Gilbert, and I burst out laughing, while a couple of the students gave us weird looks.

Francis flipped the sheet of paper over and wrote on the back, he handed the paper to me. _Did we just create a new religion?_

I shook my head, _I bet there already are thousands of people around the world that really believe that God is a giant churro!_ I passed the note to Gilbert, who chuckled.

_I think that they're called the churrists,_ Gilbert wrote. Francis and I nodded in agreement. I cupped my hand over my mouth, trying to bring an end to my laughter. The only thing that it brought was a lot of spit on my hands. The bell rang and we stood up from our seats, pushing the desks back into neat rows.

"Would churrists have their own version of a bible?" Francis asked while shoving the math packet into his backpack.

I shook my head, "I think the closest thing they would have to that is the directions of how to make a churro."

As we started walking out of the class, Mrs. Smith stopped us. "I saw that you weren't doing your work, you better have that done by tomorrow." We nodded our heads, "Good, now try to stay out of trouble. Gilbert I didn't give you detention, I better not see after school today." Mrs. Smith was always the one to supervise detention, which means she probably saw Gilbert every school day.

Gilbert shrugged, "My other teachers HATE me!"

"If you say so, just _try_ to stay out of trouble, alright?" Gilbert gave her a quick nod. "Good, now you should go so that you can get to class on time."

Francis opened the door and we walked into the hallway. I started walking in the opposite direction of Gilbert and Francis, "By Gilbert, have fun in gym, By Francis, have fun in global history, I'll see you at lunch!

XXX

I slammed my tray onto the lunchroom table, "FINALLY IT'S LUNCH!" I placed my black binder on the window sill as Francis took a seat next to me.

"You forget to pack your lunch too?"

I nodded, "I packed it in my backpack before leaving!" Francis snorted. More students started to take a seat at out lunch table, there was Me, Francis, Elizabeta Héderváry, Roderich Edelstein, Ludwig Beilschmidt, and Gilbert. It was a pretty full table, with only two empty seats that we usually used to place our backpacks on. Elizabeta and Roderich took a seat next to each other in silence, it was weird how they broke up, yet still sat next to each other.

Roderich stared at my cafeteria food in disgust, "Are you seriously going to eat that?"

I shrugged, "I forgot to bring my lunch, and I am really hungry!"

Roderich opened his lunch box and brought out a small cake, "If you want, you can have a piece."

I stood from my seat, and ran to the other side of the rectangular table where he sat, "¿Realmente? That's so nice of you!"

Roderich nodded, "I guess I am just a nice person like that, unlike _somebody _who sits at this table believes." Roderich stole a quick glance at Elezabeta, who rolled her eyes. "Anyway, nobody deserves to each that slob this school calls lunch."

I watched Roderich cut the small cake in half with a plastic knife and placed my half on my tray, "Maybe if that person was here, they could see how nice you are!" I said. Francis face palmed and Elizabeta gave me a weird look.

"Yeah, _maybe._" Roderich said while staring straight at Elizabeta for some reason.

I took a seat and began to dig into my cake. Francis leaned over to me, "How did you not catch onto that?" He whispered.

"Catch onto what?" My question was partly muffled through a mouthful of the delicious pastry.

Francis shook his head smiling, "Nothing important."

Ludwig took a seat next to Roderich and began talking to him about a chemistry lab. Gilbert took a seat across from me and glared at Elizabeta and Roderich, "Hey! Why didn't anybody tell me that you two broke up?"

"It was none of your business," Elizabeta answered.

"You tell me, and it is none of my business," Francis said.

"They practically told everybody, I thought that you knew," I told Gilbert.

Gilbert stared at me gaping, "So it's not any of my business, but it is everybody else's?"

Roderich shrugged, "It's not really a big deal, I don't see why you're flipping out over it." There was an awkward silence at the table, even I could sense it. What if they realize that Gilbert has a crush on Elizabeta?

I decided to switch topics, "Guess who forgot their backpack to school today?"

Elizabeta stared at me, "You didn't!" I nodded, "How did that happen?"

Gilbert gave me a thankful look as I started to explain how I could have forgotten. Soon the whole lunch table was back to their normal conversations, and Gilbert opened the window. There was only one reason that this table sits next to a window and that is because of Gilbird. He let out a small whistle, and soon the yellow bird came flying through the window. "Hey Gilbird!" Gilbert called. The yellow bird landed on his shoulder shivering. "I know, it's cold outside." The bird then buried itself inside of his pocket.

"Will you stop bringing that bird to school?" Ludwig asked.

Gilbert shook his head, "I don't bring him, he just follows me!" Gilbert rushed around the table until he was leaning right in between Francis and I, "Hey now that I know that Gilbird's here, we can go!"

"Go where," I asked while taking a bite of the last chunk of cake on my plate.

"You know how my bruder has a crush on that Italian chef?" I nodded. "Well he has lunch the same period as us, I want to make sure that he is alright for Luddy!"

"Feliciano?" Francis asked. "He is, trust me, I knew him ever since he was a child."

I nodded in agreement, "Same here, he perfect for Ludwig."

"Well I want to find out myself, come on!" He pulled us to our feet and we walked past our lunch table. Gilbert scanned the cafeteria, "Where does he sit?"

"With the other art students, I think." Francis said.

"The art table? This guy must be some depressed emo who paints out all of his feeling!" I shared a look with Francis, knowing exactly how wrong he is. We approached a table with students talking regularly, and Feliciano was laughing at some joke. "Hey Feliciano!" Gilbert called.

Feliciano looked up, and a couple of the art students gave us glares, "What do you want, Bird Boy?" One of the students called. She had a nose piercing, wore thick black eyeliner, and her hair was made up of black and blue highlights.

Gilbert was about to say something back before Feliciano called out, "Hi Gilbert! Hi Francis! Hi Antonio!"

The Goth-looking girl turned to Feliciano, "You know these guys?"

Feliciano nodded enthusiastically, "Si! That's Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio." Feliciano turned to us, "Hello! This is Mike, Stephanie, Judy, and Carlos." Mike had short, straight, brown hair, and he gave us a small smile. Stephanie, who had long blonde hair waved, Judy with the thick eyeliner stared at Feliciano in shock, and Carlos didn't give us a greeting, for he has yet to put down a book that he seemed quite into. "Mike was just telling me a funny joke, do you guys want to hear it?"

Gilbert shook his head, "No thanks, actually we came here to ask if you wanted to sit at our table for today."

"Sure!"

"What?" Judy asked. I gave her a grin before turning my attention back to Feliciano.

"It's always nice to try new things," The Italian said. "I'll see you guys in art, alright?" Mike gave him a nod, and Feliciano grabbed his backpack. "Andiamo!"

We made our way back to the lunch table and sat down. Ludwig gave Gilbert a promising death glare once he saw that Gilbert brought Feliciano to the lunch table. Feliciano took a seat next to Gilbert and stared over at Roderich, "Mr. Edelstein!" He cheered.

"Not this guy again," Roderich muttered in annoyance.

"So tell me about yourself, Feliciano," Gilbert said.

The rest of the period consisted of Gilbert practically interviewing Feliciano, Ludwig giving Gilbert angry and worried glances, Elizabeta and Roderich conversing, and Francis and I still laughing about the giant churro. The bell rang and I stood up to throw away my food. I walked back to Francis and Gilbert, Feliciano was now walking back to his class and waving us goodbye. I turned to Gilbert, "Well? Don't you think that he's perfect?" I asked.

Gilbert nodded, "I guess that you guys were right. I'm going through hell the second that I'm alone in the same room as Ludwig though. He will make sure of that."

I laughed, "well good luck with that! I have to go, my chemistry teacher won't be happy if I'm late. Do you want to go get smoothies after school? My shift at Vargas is starting a little late so I have time to spare."

Francis shook his head, "I get help with my English after school today." I nodded, that's understandable. It's weird, after knowing Francis for so long I can barely tell when he's speaking improper or not. I guess after a while, I just got used to it.

I stared at Gilbert, waiting for an answer. He sighed, "I got detention."

Francis face palmed, "Why can't I possibly be surprised? Oh and Antonio, don't forget to bring that binder back to me tomorrow."

That was when I realized that I have been walking around empty handed, "The binder! It's still on the window sill!"

"Is there anything that you _can_ remember?" Gilbert called. I shrugged as I ran to retrieve the black binder. I returned to see Francis and Gilbert still laughing at me. "You really are a mess today."

"You will be a mess after Ludwig gets to you," I retorted.

Gilbert shrugged, "I'll possibly live. Maybe the giant churro will come back to life and help me." I laughed and said my goodbyes, I then started making my way to chemistry.

That's when I realized that I forgot my lab at home.

XXX

**Author's note: Of course, I came up with this chapter by forgetting my backpack at home... that was not a fun day. I hope that you guys liked this chapter! Please do not get offended Art students, Gilbert was simply just stereotypeing. Then again, if you watch Hetalia, you probably don't find many stereotypes too offensive. Anyway it's not true, I know plenty of people who love art, and is not emo. By the way, I am still accepting pairing requests! I forgot to mention that last chapter! I just realized the challenge I have unknowingly set up for myself as I started this chapter. I now have to put everything that Francis says into present tense until Arthur can teach him something. I will probably have Francis talk like this for a while because we all know how great Arthur is at teaching English (CoughThisIsAPenCough) Next chapter will be in Arthur's point of view!**


	6. It happens every day

Francis and I have been sitting in the library for hours now, and Francis could barely say a single word in the past tense! "I gived you the apple," Francis tried.

I shook my head, "It's _'I GAVE you the apple'_, the word gived does not exist." Francis let out a frustrated groan and slammed his head on the table. "We can work on this later, right now we should try to catch the afterschool bus home." They would be coming soon, we were the last ones inside of the library besides Mrs. Perez; the sweet old lady at the front desk. Well she's sweet until somebody decides to raise their voice in the library. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and handed Francis my English notes. He looked up from where he rested his head and took the sheets of paper. "Let's go," I ordered, "I don't want to miss the bus. I will personally kick your arse if you cause me to."

"No you do not, I win if you even try to kick my arse," Francis said as he stuffed the notes into his bag.

"We have been studying this for hours! The least you can do is try to put that sentence in the future tense!" I complained. Francis stood up from his seat and put on his backpack. Without even waiting to see if he was following me, I started to head towards the exit.

"Have a good afternoon, boys," Mrs. Perez called as I held open the library door for Francis.

"You too Mrs. Perez." I shut the door behind me and started walking down the hallway.

Francis slouched while he was walking, "I don't want to go home!" He whined.

"Well I wouldn't want to go home either if I had your mom." I responded.

"You think that mon Mère est mal? What about your siblings? Those are some drunkards that I wouldn't want to live with, I wish you good luck."

I crossed my arms defensively, "Well at least my siblings do not monitor my every move."

Francis shrugged, "Well that just shows that they don't care for you at all."

Before I could reply, Gilbert ran up to us, "Hey! I finally made it out of detention!"

"How is it that you are able to get detention every single day?" I asked.

Gilbert shrugged, "If I don't get detention beforehand, my History teacher makes sure I get one by the end of the day. He hates my guts!" Gilbert then turned to Francis, "Hey Francis, do you want a ride home? I have to pick up Ludwig, and you're house is near mine."

Francis nodded, "Sure!"

"You can come too, Arthur, you're his neighbor so it doesn't really matter." Usually I hate it when I have to be in the same car as Francis, but that is way better than waiting for the afterschool buses, they take forever. With a nod, I followed Francis and Gilbert out of the school.

"So where are you and Ludwig going tonight?"

"To a Chinese buffet, he's paying this time since he made me give such a large tip to the waiter last time." Gilbert opened the car door and hopped into the driver's seat.

"Why?" Francis asked.

"We were at Vargas and he wanted to make a good first impression on his crush's brother."

"Who's Ludwig's crush?" I asked while closing the door to the back seat. The only good thing about the backseat is that Francis is in the front, meaning that I don't have to sit next to him.

Gilbert shrugged, "I probably shouldn't tell you, but Ludwig is going to kill me anyways, so it doesn't really make that much of a difference. The kid's name is Feliciano Vargas."

"Oh," I knew him. He sat next to me in biology last year. For some reason, he was always afraid of me. Then his brother would start swearing at me for making him cry when I didn't even do anything. "So it was Lovino you gave the large tip to." Gilbert nodded. "Wait, so why is Ludwig going to kill you?"

Francis turned around from the front seat, "Gilbert invites Feliciano to eat lunch with him so that he can make sure that he's alright for Ludwig."

"Ludwig is pretty pissed. Hopefully he will forget it by the time I pick him up." Gilbert turned the ignition and started the car.

"I highly doubt that mon ami."

Gilbert slammed on the gas pedal and the car went racing out of the parking lot. My head jerked back instantly and the seat belt tightened around me. "WE ARE NOT DRAG RACING! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DRIVE SO FAST!"

"What? It's hard to hear you over my awesomeness!"

"KILLING THE PRESIDENT OF THE STUDENT COUNCIL IN A CAR ACCIDENT WOULD NOT BE AWESOME!" I yelled over the roaring engine.

Gilbert just laughed and drove faster in response. "Relax! At this speed, we'll be at your house in no time! We will probably live."

"PROBABLY!?"

"Yeah, you never know what can happen," Gilbert said as the car sped right through a red light.

"DAMN YOU GILBERT!" Francis laughed and turned on the radio, blasting some foreign rock band that I never heard of before. Francis and Gilbert bobbed their heads and Gilbert sang along in German, with Francis joining in every time the chorus came up, because that was the only part were he could sing along without mispronouncing any of the German words. I watched them in disbelief. I had no idea how the bloody hell they could just relax like that when we were going so damn fast! The car started spinning and I could have sworn that I saw stars. (Either that or Mrs. Fairy) I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. Just when I thought that I no longer felt nauseous, the car came to sudden halt. I was left winded as I jerked forward and the seat belt tightened enough to cut off circulation.

"We're here!" Gilbert yelled as he turned off the radio.

"We are?" I choked out. I unbuckled the seatbelt and let out a shaky sigh of relief. I opened the door, and scrambled out of the car of doom. Francis calmly exited the blue vicacle and turned back to Gilbert.

"By Gilbert!" Francis called out.

"Yeah, bye."

"I'll see you tomorrow! We're still going to tag with lazars, right?"

"You mean lazar tagging, and yeah we are! Antonio has Fridays off so he can come too. We're heading over right after school. It's going to be awesome!"

"Lazar tagging?" I asked. "I thought that game was for ten year olds."

Gilbert gasped, "No! One does not simply grow too old for lazar tagging!"

I rolled my eyes, "Suuuure. Anyway, I'll be going now. Even though you almost killed us, I guess that it would be ungentlemanly of me if I did not thank you for the ride."

Gilbert laughed, "You're just underestimating me. I'm too awesome to get into a car crash! Anyway, I have to go. Bye!" With that, the car went flying down the street, leaving a giant grey cloud behind.

As I coughed from the polluted air, Francis nudged my arm with his elbow. "Do you see how I talk to Gilbert! I use the future tense!"

"I guess that was slightly impressive, until you said 'tag with lazars.'" I replied bluntly. "It seems that you have the hardest time with the past tense. Have a whole conversation using the past, future, and present tense correctly, and then I'll be really impressed."

"That is way too hard! I am not able to accomplish that!"

"_Yet._ With my help, you'll be talking like a pro in no time."

Francis snorted, "Yeah right. I talk to Kiku in Chemistry, he tell me about the little 'this is a pen' episode."

"I-It's _told_ not _tell_!" I quickly corrected.

Francis chuckled, "Changing the subject I see."

"The only thing I see is my house, which means that this is goodbye!" I walked ahead of him without looing back and walked up the steps to my house. I shut the door behind me, and flung my backpack onto the couch. I really wanted some tea. I headed to the kitchen and filled a kettle with water. Just as I turned on the gas stove I heard a door swing open and shut. I sighed, another night of useless arguing was ahead of me, "Allistor, I'm in the kitchen."

I heard footsteps walk towards the kitchen, but there was no reply. Suddenly the least expected, but not very surprising person entered the kitchen. "Well, obviously we have a Kirkland in the kitchen. He's climbing through yo windows, snatching yo cooking supplies up, trying to cook food. So y'all need to hide yo blenders, hide yo knives, and hide yo microwaves 'cause he be cooking everything out here." The Frenchman snorted and almost fell over from laughing.

"Very funny Francis," I said sarcastically. "Now what are you doing here."

"You really shouldn't leave your door unlocked."

"Well, Allistor will be here any second, so there's really no point in locking it." I said. "Now what are you doing here?"

"Talking to you."

I paused, "Alright, let me rephrase that. Why are you here?"

Francis shrugged, "I'm just making sure that you don't burn anything. I worry that someday you will be cooking and your whole house explodes. House explosions leave a horrible image for the neighborhood!"

I glared at Francis, "Well I'm worried that someday your mom will find out about all of the people you dated at school, and she is arrested for murdering her only son. Now _that_ would leave a bad image for the neighborhood."

Francis let out a huff and crossed his arms, "She would never do that to me."

"Oh really? Does she even know that you date? Or does she even know that you don't always date _girls_?" I asked. Francis didn't respond, "That's what I thought. If you even gave her the smallest hint, she would kill you."

"No! If I tell her, then she will accept me for who I am!"

I placed my hands on my hips, "Alright, then tell her."

The man standing in front of me let out a nervous laugh, "She is not home."

"Alright, then call her on your phone, then tell her."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because she will kill me."

"Exactly."

Francis decided to turn this on me, "Well what about you?"

I paused, "What about me?"

"I'm sure that your siblings will not be too happy if you tell them that you are gay."

Suddenly I heard the door swing open and slam close, "Shit, there's Allistor."

"I go hide in your room," Francis said quickly.

"Hide in my room?" I whispered harshly. "Don't hide in my room, just sneak your way out of the house!" Before I could change his mind, Francis went tip-toeing out of the kitchen.

"Arthur!" Allistor called. "Please don't tell me that you're in the kitchen!"

"I'm just making tea!" I yelled.

"You mean that girly heated water flavored shit?" Allistor asked as he walked into the kitchen. Allistor was the second oldest of the household. Even though we were brothers, he was raised in Scotland. Allistor tucked a strand of his layered red hair behind his ear, revealing the iron earing he always wore. He took off his grey suit jacket and tossed it through the doorway leading to the living room. The jacket landed sloppily on the leather sofa. Allistor reached into his pocket and retrieved a cigarette. He placed it in his mouth and picked up the candle lighter from the kitchen counter.

"I would really appreciate a cup of tea that didn't smell of tobacco if you were ever so kind," I said gesturing to the cigarette he was about to light.

Allistor shrugged, "It looks like I'm not ever so kind." He lit the cigarette and blew out a small puff of grey smoke. I sighed as he pulled out a whiskey flask from god knows where and took a sip with the lit cigarette in his mouth.

That would be Allistor for you, well at least that was the Allistor that I knew. Very few people saw the real side of Allistor, those people who did were very unfortunate. Allistor lived a double life every day. Every morning, Allistor started work at five am, then came home at seven pm. Fourteen hours might be long, but the company he worked for would sink like a rock without him. Nobody knew how they survived whenever he took a day off. During those fourteen hours, Allistor was the one who called all of the shots right below his boss. He wasn't everybody's favorite at work, but he always got the work done on time and in a professional manner. He was always the one who presented the company to other businesses all around the world that were interested. His temper was short and his patience was low, but most bosses loved the fire in his eyes and his determination to do his job right without leaving room for mistakes. Allistor was loyal too, he was asked to join many other companies that gave him more money and fewer hours dozens of times, he didn't accept a single offer. That was the Allistor that most people knew, the emerald eyed business man that is worth being afraid of if you ever had to go against him.

The Allistor that I knew was a completely different person. The second his work hours were over, Allistor would light a cigarette, and drink whiskey until he was black out drunk. He was the most irresponsible one in the house, and his paperwork laid completely abandoned until he awoke early in the morning to fill them out. He was not very controllable when he was drunk also. He threw things around the house, he tipped things over, and he picked random fights with my other brothers and I. I can't even count how many times we got into a fistfight. Any one of his coworkers would be horrified to see him when he got home. He had the same short temper and low patience as he did in the office, but his attitude was completely different. The worst thing that happened at his workplace, was when Allistor lost patience with an employee and threw a shoe at him. That would be considered a normal occurrence in the Kirkland household, actually that wouldn't even be considered as bad behavior. That's actually pretty good for Allistor. Needless to say, I was really jealous of those who only knew Allistor's professional side.

"Why have you been coming home earlier for the past few days anyway?" I asked.

"Some group of people are checking out the company, most likely fishing for a lawsuit. The boss sent me home so that they don't think that the employees are overworked. I have regular hours until the end of this weekend, then I'm back to my long schedule that I usually have." Allistor said in his thick Scottish accent. He took another splurge of his whiskey and rummaged through the cabinets. "What do you want for diner? Knowing Aednat, we're having something with potatoes."

I shrugged, "Well she's Irish, so you can't really blame her for wanting to have potatoes for dinner every night. Where is she anyway? I came home to a completely empty house."

Allistor stopped rummaging through the cabinets and looked out the window, "She went grocery shopping with Riley, and Peter's friend picked him up to attend some orchestra concert being held in their middle school."

The kettle started whistling, and I took it off of the gas stove. "I'll give that some time to cool off a tad, I wouldn't want to burn my mouth." With the given excuse, I rushed out of the kitchen and ran up the stairs. I burst through my bedroom door to see Francis calmly sitting on my bed.

"What took you so long?" Francis asked with a wide grin, obviously happy with himself since he spoke in the past tense.

"I was talking to Allistor," I stated. "Now will you get out of my house?"

Francis shrugged, "I don't know, I like this house, it has a very homey feeling."

"Well Allistor isn't drunk yet, and the others are not home, so that's why."

Francs nodded, "Well I should go, Mère will be home any second now, she would not be happy with me being at your house." He jumped up to his feet and walked through the door way. Before he made his leave down the stairs, Francis turned to me. For once the tone in his voice was serious, and his eyes were burning with an emotion that I could not identify, "Art."

"Yes?"

"Don't let your siblings hurt you,"

"I won't." With that, Francis turned around and started to creep down the stairs. "Francis," I whispered. He turned around and raised an eyebrow, "don't let your mother get to you." He gave me a nod, and went down the stairs. I paused, barely letting myself breath until I heard the soft click of the front door shutting. I let out a sigh of relief and headed back to the kitchen. Allistor was now throwing dirty clothes into the washer in the corner of the room.

"Did Aednat and Riley come home yet? I could have sworn that I heard the front door open."

I shook my head, "That was me, I was just," I paused to think for a second, "checking to see if the mail came yet."

Allistor raised an eyebrow, "Really? What has you so excited about the mail? Besides, the mail man usually arrives in the morning."

"Does it? Well I didn't know. I was looking for my... er... report card."

Allistor nodded and went back to tossing clothes into the washing machine, "Oh, that came a couple of days ago, you're in the high nineties for every class, you don't really have anything to worry about."

"I am? Well that's good." I quickly turned my back on him to pour the steaming water into a tea cup. I was always a bad liar, I knew that my report card came in days ago. It's not that Allistor never lied to me before anyway, so I didn't really feel guilty about it.

Suddenly I heard a door swing open and slam close, "We're home!" I heard Aednat call. Footsteps walked towards the kitchen and Aednat and Riley entered the kitchen carrying handfuls of paper bags. "Hey Blondie, a little help with these grocery bags would be nice." Aednat said while extending a paper bag towards me. I gave her a small glare, she knew that I didn't like being called blondie. I took the bag and started emptying its continents.

Aednat was the oldest of us all. She was born in Ireland and will brag about her Irish heritage with any chance she got. Aednat had long flaming red hair that went down to her hip in curls that will never straighten. She had pale skin that was covered in freckles, and bright green eyes along with Allistor, Riley, and I. She usually wore a clover green dress and brown flats. Unlike Allistor, she never had to worry about living a double life. Aednat was who she was wherever she went. She was a bartender, customers were always entertained by her feisty attitude. Even though she had a short temper, she was friendly towards those who were friendly towards her, but those who were not would face her rage. Her Irish accent was as thick as ever as she started to describe the possibilities for what to have as diner, every single option contained potatoes.

"Why do we always have to have potatoes?" Riley aked.

Riley was younger than Aednat and Allistor, but he was older than me. He was a freshman in college and stayed in a dorm, but he visits with every chance he gets, sometimes it's hard to believe that he doesn't live here anymore. Riley was born in Wales, and he was definitely the most liked in the house hold. Even though he did argue a lot, he knew when to apologize and how to avoid crossing the line with us. He had the most patience out of all of us, and he was the most generous. He did however start arguments and get into fights, being the most patient and the most generous in _this_ household was not saying much. Riley's skin was a tad tanner than Aednat's and his hair was red-orange instead of Allistor's and Aednat's bright red. He didn't have as many freakels as Aednat, but his skin wasn't completely freckle free like Allistor. He still had the traditional Kirkland eyes that were the same color of an emerald.

"It's my house, and I do most of the cooking, that's why," Aednat said as she put groceries in the fridge.

"Well what if I don't want potatoes?" Riley asked.

"Then you can go back to your dorm and cook for yourself," Aednat said. "Just remember who pays for you to go to college."

Allistor shut the lid of the washer and turned it on, "Actually, that would be me."

Aednat whipped her head in Allistor's direction, "What?"

Allistor took out his cigarette and put it out with the bottom of his shoe, "I make the most money in this house hold, and I gave Riley the most money for college, you just decided to take credit for it because you are the oldest."

Aednat glared at her younger brother, "I do the most work!"

The red-head raised an eyebrow, "Really? Try working in an office, everybody depends completely on my hard work."

"All you do is wear a fancy suit and attend meetings, don't make it sound like you're the most important person in the world. Where I work, elbow grease is required."

Riley leaned over to me, "I'll give it a minute or two before they start fighting for real," he muttered. I nodded in agreement and continued to unpack the groceries while still keeping an eye on Aednat and Allistor.

"Elbow grease? Yeah, I bet that serving beverages are so hard to do," Allistor said sarcastically.

"If you think that it's so easy, then why don't you do it?"

Allistor crossed his arms, "That would be because I am successful enough where I don't need to do such crummy jobs. Unlike you, I actually made something out of myself in life."

If Aednat gave him a worded response, I didn't hear it. Instead she decided that a blow to his face would be better than any combat. In the blink of an eye, Aednat swung her fist at him, and Allistor went stumbling backwards until he hit a wall. Allistor came charging at her and the wrestling match began. Riley and I stacked cans of food in the pantry like nothing was happening, because this was completely normal for us. Aednat let out a victorious cheer and I turned my head to see her pinning him to the kitchen ground. She sat on him as she took a sip of the whiskey in his flask. She quickly put flask down, disgusted with the beverage. "Irish whiskey is way better than this Scottish shit."

"Lies!" Allistor yelled in rage. He rolled over, causing Aednat to lose her balance and fall backwards.

My stomach growled, begging somebody to get off of their arse and cook. "Since everybody else is busy, I guess that I can make dinner tonight." I called out. I turned around, and opened the fridge. I glanced up to see that everybody was no longer fighting and was now staring at me in horror. "What?"

"You're going to poison us!"

I rolled my eyes, "My cooking is wonderful!"

"Sure, and Nessie isn't real," Allistor said sarcastically.

Aednat shoved me aside which sent me crashing into a wall, and shut the fridge, "I'm cooking and that is final, and yes we are having potatoes!" She delivered a glare to Riley with the last part of the sentence said. "Now get out of the kitchen, you all annoy me."

As we went into the living room, a car honking their horn could be heard. The car door slammed closed and somebody walked to the front of the house. I heard an obnoxious knocking on the door and opened it to see Peter outside. Peter was very different from all of us. He had layered pale blonde hair and pale blue eyes instead of emerald. Peter was English like me, but he claims that he's from some land called Sealand. It's a small sea fort that was abanoned by England, with the given chance, some idiot claimed himself as Prince and declared the rusty fort as a nation. Peter was into anything new and spent most of his time on the internet when he wasn't hanging out with friends or doing homework. Actually, the only thing he had that was similar with any of us were his slightly thick eyebrows.

The young twelve year old entered the house, "Tally ho! I'm back from the concert!"

"Nobody cares," I said in annoyance. Peter always annoyed me, he didn't insult me as much as the others, but he always played the most childish pranks on me. Once he even set off a stink bomb in my room, that was surely not a fun time. It took a whole month for the smell to fade, Peter found it hilarious.

"Don't be so mean to the little mate, you should be kind to your siblings," Scotland said.

"Coming from the guy who got into a fight with his big sister, and lost I should mention. By the way, you're not Australian, Peter is not a 'mate.'"

"Woah there lassie! Get that stick out of your arse!" His Scottish accent was thicker than usual, and he yelled the sentence as if he were fifty feet away. Those were one of the few signs that Allistor was getting drunk.

"Everybody cares you British jerks of jerks!" Peter then glanced at Allistor, and realized that he was drunk. "Great, this is going to be one of _those_ nights. Well I guess that means that I will be going on the interwebs and doing homework for most of the night. Call me down for dinner," Peter then picked up his backpack, and ran up the stairs.

"I have no stick up my arse, you wanker!" I said defensively.

"Did you just call me what I think you did?" Allistor slurred. He balled his hands into tight fists and took a step forward offensively.

I swallowed nervously, but I didn't dare back down, "It depends on what you heard. If you heard me call you a wanker, then your ears do not deceive you."

Allistor paused for a split second, he then put his arms to his sides and took a step back. "Riley," he called calmly, "hold him down."

With that being my only warning, I turned my head to Riley's direction. Everything happened in slow motion. Riley furrowed his eyebrows and his facial expression became concentrated as his pale soft hand became an iron hard fist. I blinked as I saw him draw his elbow back, his sporty sneakers squeaked on the hard wood floors as he came charging at me. I had no time to react, it felt like I was underwater. His iron fist collided with my jaw and the back of my head slammed onto the hard ground. Everything was blurred until all I could see were colors blending into each other. Everything was spinning, one would think that I was high if they didn't see what happened. I heard footsteps walk towards me, the steps were slow and confident, it almost had an icy feel to it. I shivered as I heard the top of a whiskey flask open. "D-Don't you dare!" My voice wobbled as I called out blindly.

"Tsk tsk, it's a shame that you never learned. Don't you see Arthur? In the business life, you are always being observed. The way you walk, talk, and present yourself always affects your career. How are you going to make it in life when you can't even have a conversation with somebody without calling them a wanker? I'll have to teach you a lesson there lassie. I sat up as Allistor paused to take a sip of his liquor, I heard him swallow the damaging liquid as I tried to push myself to my feet. The swallowing stopped quickly as I was pushed back to a laying position when a black polished shoe kicked me in the ribs, thankfully I didn't hear anything crack. "Where do you think you're going, Blondie?" Suddenly, I felt a cool liquid pour all over me, I let out a loud scream as it spilled into my left eye. I covered my burning eye with my liquor soaked hand as my blonde hair started to reek of the alcoholic odor. I pushed myself to my feet, and punched whoever was standing in front of me with my free hand. I heard a quick clumsy shuffle, then I heard a loud crash. Allistor let out a cry of pain the second after a loud smashing echoed throughout the house. It sounded similar to a metal baseball bat being slammed against a glass window.

There was silence for a whole minute, until Aednat called out, "What was that?"

Before I heard anybody answer her, I went racing up the stairs. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I sprinted to my room, and slammed the door behind me. I slid with my back leaning against the door to the ground and let out a choked sob. I sat there for a minute, breathing heavily and trying to collect my thoughts. I stayed there for a whole five minutes until the burning in my eye became too much. I limped over to my bed and grabbed the water bottle that sat on my headboard. Thankfully it still had water in it. I poured the bottled water onto my head, then I held a couple of tissues over my eye. Suddenly I felt a buzz in my pocket, I took my cellular device out of my pants and read the text that was sent to me.

_I hear a loud crash and a lot of yelling... you don't follow the advice I GAVE you._

I let out a small chuckle through my sniffles and shook my head.

_Was that the only thing you learnt from our long session? By the way Francis, don't act like you followed the advice that I GAVE you._

_No fair! The advice I GAVE you is not that hard to follow._

_You'd think that since you don't live with my siblings. The advice you GAVE me was as hard to follow as the advice that I GAVE you._

_If you say so Arthur._

_What did I say about calling me Arthur?_

_You can't hear accents over text!_

_Your stupid French accent has cursed me, I can't read a single one of your texts without reading it in your stupid accent!_

_It's a sign Art, obviously only lovers can read each other's texts in their voice ;)_

_Francis... I will murder you._

_I hope you know that I read that in your voice ;)_

_FRANCIS!_

_;)_

_Quit sending me those stupid winking faces you frog!_

_Alright. So you are not hurt too bad, are you?_

_No. You didn't receive too much physiological torture from your mother, did you?_

_She doesn't physiologically torture me!_

_Denial; one of the signs that she brainwashed you. Well whatever you call it, she didn't affect you in a negative way too much, right?_

_No._

_See? That's all you had to say._

_I have to go, mon Mère would not be happy with me texting you, and I hear her coming to my room._

_I understand, she is going to kick your arse with anything you do that she does not approve._

Not expecting an answer, I set my phone on lock and stuffed it under my matrice; Peter always likes to play angry birds on my phone and tries to steal with every chance he gets. "ARTHUR!" I heard Aednat scream. With a sigh, I opened my bedroom door, took a deep calming breath, and started to walk down the stairs to face whatever my siblings were going to throw at me... literally.

XXX

**Author's note: Sorry that this took so long. I had a major writer's block, Arthur is hard to write. Also this chapter was pretty hard because Scotland, Ireland, and Wales are all fan made characters. Allistor is Scotland, Aednat is Ireland, and Riley is Wales. I didn't think up Scotland's name, but I had to make up Ireland's and Wales'. They won't be in the story too much after this chapter. By the way, I'm sorry if there are a couple of grammar errors in this, something is terribly wrong with my keyboard and sometimes it won't let me type certain letters, so I have been rereading this dozens of times trying to correct everything on my own. So what do you think of the chapter?**

**Next chapter will be in Canada's point of view. The North Americans are coming. We be climbing through yo windows, snatchen yo people up... sorry I had that video stuck in my head for about a week. Most of us do not climb through windows and snatch people up. Also I had the Canadian national anthem stuck in my head... I don't even know how that happened. I only know the beginning part too so my head just keeps on repeating the first five lines of the song... and it won't stop! Why Canada, whyyyyyyy?**


	7. A fresh start

I tapped my pencil on my finished test impatiently, I was sitting with it on my desk for thirty minutes and my global history teacher has yet to collect it. He collected every other student's test once they were done, I guessed that he forgot about me, like everybody else did. I stared around the room, trying to find something to distract me from counting the minutes that passed. I was unluckily seated in the back of the class, I never liked sitting in the back, it made me feel even more invisible. Most students were talking in hushed voiced about their weekend plans, going to the mall, visiting each other's houses, watching a movie that just came out, things like that. Some students were quiet like me, having no friends in this class. One student leaned into her book, eyes running from side to side. She glanced at the clock for a split second before returning to her story. It made me wish I brought a book. One student glared at his desk, angry that his test was taken away. He was most likely not planning on getting caught for cheating. The student in front of him switched her attention between her test packet and her scantron, making sure that she copied every answer onto the scantron correctly. Once in a while she would glare at the boy behind her, not surprising since she was the person he got caught copying off of. The second the student put her hands to her side, showing that she as done with her test, the teacher walked by and collected it. I glared at him for a moment, I was sitting in class for I didn't even know how long anymore with my finished test, and he doesn't collect it. Yet he sees a different student finish their test, and he collects it right away. This was definitely not the first time this happened, nor was this the only class it happened in.

Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder. I glanced to my right and almost jumped from this student's appearance. He had pale skin, white hair, and blood red eyes. I forced myself to calm down as I realized it was just Gilbert. He did scare me every time though, it must have been the scary red eyes. "H-Hey, you're ummm..."

"Matthew Williams," I sighed. It wasn't really a surprise that somebody forgot my name, it happened every time.

"Right," Gilbert gave me a nervous smile, "I _really _need to sharpen this pencil, could you please do that for me?"

I gave him a questioning look, "I'm sorry, but may I ask why you cannot do it yourself?"

Gilbert's scary red eyes trailed to Mr. Henderson, "Alright look. You know how I always get detention and get yelled at in this class, right?" I gave him a small nod. He was always that one student who argued with the teacher and entertained the whole class while stalling us from getting real work done. "Well it's Friday, and I have not gotten a single detention yet. I have plans afterschool, and I just _know _that the second I draw attention to myself, Mr. Henderson is going to give me detention or even worse; Saturday school. We only have five minutes until this class ends and this is the last period in the school day. I can make it as long as I stay practically invisible, and that involves not getting up."

I stared at him deadpanned. Since when did people actually _want_ to be invisible? The albino gave me a pleading look and I simply gave him a small nod. He handed me a blue colored pencil with a toothy grin and I stood up from my seat. Even the students that were bored out of their mind and looking for _any_ distraction didn't glance at me. I walked to the front of the room and turned to my left. An electric pencil sharpener sat neatly on Mr. Henderson's desk. I shoved the pencil in the sharpener, and the thing screamed as I held the pencil in place. There was still absolutely no reaction from any of the students, only Gilbert who glanced up at me every couple of seconds. Mr. Henderson paid no mind to the screeching pencil sharpener as he graded somebody's test, ouch, they got a D-, I sure felt bad for that student. After using the loudest machine in a classroom that was practically dead silent and still nobody noticed me, I felt that there was nothing that I could do to make them pay attention. Why did I have to be so invisible? I took the now sharpened pencil and returned to my seat as quickly as possible. "Here you go," I whispered.

"Thanks! You're awesome!" Gilbert mouthed to me.

"What do you even need a colored pencil for anyways?" I asked. Without saying another word, Gilbert held up what looked like a sketch book. An eating area was drawn on the sketch book, it looked like some popular restaurant. "Is that a restaurant?"

The albino nodded, "I'm almost done with it, I just have to color this pattern on the table cloth." I leaned over in my seat to get a better look. A group of citizens were sitting around a table with menus in their hands. A woman with short blonde hair and rosy red cheeks was laughing at something a man with curly black hair was saying. The man next to the blonde, wore a small smile, as if he were only half paying attention as he scanned the menu. Behind them, was a waitress with thick brown hair carrying a tray full of food, one plate held a pile of pasta, one plate carrying steak, and two more plates carrying chocolate cake. She wore a calm expression and looked confident as she walked across the restaurant. The sketch didn't even stop there, there were dozens of people in the background, all doing their own thing and having a good time. Far in the background, there was a window, with extreme details of the setting outside of the building. I gaped at the setting; it looked as if I could actually step inside of it.

"Did you draw that?" I asked.

Gilbert smiled, "Awesome, right? It could still use some improvement though."

I stared at him wide-eyed, "How in the world could you possibly make that drawing better than it already is?"

Gilbert hummed in thought, "Well I still haven't finished the table cloth yet, also the man a couple people behind the waitress doesn't look as happy as I wanted him to."

"Still, you have a lot of talent, that looks so realistic that it's almost scary."

Gilbert was about to say something before Mr. Henderson cut him off, "Alright well the bell is going to ring any second, did I collect everybody's tests?"

I cleared my throat, "Actually you-" if anybody heard me, they lost all of their attention to the loud ringing of the school bell, declaring the start of the weekend.

"Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you all on Monday," Mr. Henderson called as the high school students poured out of the classroom. Gilbert shoved his sketchbook in his bag and raced into the hallway, not even saying goodbye to me.

I picked up my test with a shaking hand and slowly made my way to Mr. Henderson's desk. "H-Hello Mr. Henderson."

The history teacher looked up from the pile of paper he was shuffling and gave me a polite smile, "Good afternoon... uhhh-"

"Matthew," I said quietly. This was really getting tiring.

Mr. Henderson let out an awkward laugh, "right of course Matthew! Can I help you with anything?"

I nodded, "You forgot to collect my test," I placed the packet with the scantron in it in front of him.

The man in front of me stared at me in surprise, "I didn't know that you were in this class, in all honesty, I didn't even know that you were my student. I apologize, what is your full name?"

"Matthew Williams."

Mr. Henderson rolled his chair over to his computer and frowned, "It appears that I have marked you as absent, I'll have to change that."

I sighed, "Yes, well I only have to correct you on that every day."

Mr. Henderson looked up from his computer, "I'm sorry, but what did you say?"

Amazing. Even while I was in mid-conversation with somebody, they will not pay attention. "Nothing."

"Oh, I thought that you said something, anyways thank you very much for handing in your test. Have a good weekend..."

"Matthew."

"Right, well have a good weekend."

With that annoying episode ending, I walked out of the classroom and walked down the hallway calmly. I wasn't rushing because I didn't have to take a bus. I usually had to, but not today. Today I was being picked up by my mom so that we could go to the airport. I stopped quickly at my locker and shoved my backpack inside of it; I already did all of my homework while waiting for Mr. Henderson to collect my test, so I didn't really need it for the weekend. I exited the school and scanned the parking lot, I still didn't see my mom's car. Suddenly a brunet pushed me aside happily as he practically danced down the parking lot, "Sorry," I called out. I didn't seem like he knew I was there to begin with though, since he didn't really react to my apology.

"IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY, GONNA GET DOWN ON-"

"DON'T YOU DARE START SINGING THAT SONG, ANTONIO!" A French accent yelled as the blonde man raced to the Spanish brunet.

Antonio let out a little pout before he cheerfulness returned in an instant, "You're just jealous because I can beat you in lazar tagging."

Gilbert pushed open the school doors and ran up to a blue car sitting in the parking lot, "No way! I am going to win! I was born to fight, I can certainly win a simple game of lazar tagging!"

Francis laughed, "Born to fight, huh? It don't seem that way since you get your ass kick by Ludwig last night."

"Hey! That only happened because I let my guard down. He strikes like lightning. Just when I started to believe that he wasn't mad at me for inviting Feliciano to the lunch table yesterday... BAM! He punched me right across my face." I watched Antonio support himself on Gilbert's car since he was almost to the point of falling over from laughing. "Hey! At least I didn't forget my backpack at home!"

"That was yesterday, and I didn't make the same mistake today!" Antonio defended.

"Still, you forget to give my binder back," Francis said.

Antonio let out a gasp, "Oh right! I'm sorry, Francis. I will bring it back on Monday!"

Francis snorted, "I just remind you at lunch, and you forget. How are you going to remember by Monday?"

Gilbert jumped into his car with Francis and Antonio following, "Come on guys, let's go lazar tagging!" Gilbert cheered as the engine roared. I jumped as the tires screeched against the concrete and the car sped forward. The blue car raced out of the parking lot and swerved between cars as it went down the road. I couldn't even imagine how many speeding tickets that guy had. Suddenly I turned my head at the sound of a car beeping. To my right, was a light brown, beat up car that looked like it was going to break down any second. I walked towards it and stepped inside.

In the driver's seat, sat a middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair that went down to her elbow in waves. She wore a sweet smile, and her dark blue eyes shined of joy. "Hello, Matthew," She greeted

I smiled, "Hello."

My mother gave me a large grin, "Today's the day."

"I figured that since we were going to the airport." Today _was _the day. Mom got a call last night from the social worker saying that Alfred was flying over to New York early. Mom was ecstatic; she had not seen him since he was a baby after all. I was nervous, not every day does your long lost twin move in with you and your mom. There were so many things to worry about already, having another teenager is just adding onto the pile. She couldn't really say no even if she wanted to though, and she definitely wanted to support Alfred.

Mom started driving calmly out of the parking lot, but I could see her excitement on her face through the mirror. "I am so happy right now, after all this time I will finally be able to see Alfred!"

"Yes, there is just one thing though," I started.

She turned he head in my direction as the beat down car reached a stop light. Worry shown on her face, "What is it? I didn't forget anything, did I?"

I shook my head, "It's just that... we live in a very small apartment."

"Yes?"

"And well... we don't have much money... and it just makes me wonder... well...you know..."

"What?"

I took in a deep breath, _well here goes nothing_, "How in the world are we going to support him?"

Mom turned back around to face the road, noticing how the light turned green, but she looked at me through the mirror. "Listen to me, Matthew. No matter what happens, we will never be too poor to help somebody out. Alfred has gone through a lot, and we are helping him with a fresh start. The bills might be piling up, but I get my taxes back soon, and those will be dealt with. It will be a bumpy start, but things will soon smoothen out."

I sighed, "I understand, it just makes me worry."

Mom returned her eyes to the road, "You are a young and intelligent boy. The only thing you have to be worrying about is your future and getting good grades. Let me worry about supporting you two, while you worry about becoming an Environmental Scientist like you want to be." I smiled. I had to have the best mom ever. She would always support me until the end.

"Thank you, Mom."

Mom nodded her head. "You're welcome. Now there's a couple of things that I want to go over with you."

"What is it?"

"Well I already told you this before, but since we only have two bedrooms back in the apartment, you and Alfred will have to share a room. Also I was told that Alfred is a little naive when it comes to the city life."

I nodded in agreement, "That's to be expected considering his background."

Mom continued, "Well if he has any questions, please explain things, and make it as simple as possible, alright?" I nodded my head once again, "Good. Also there's one important thing. Whatever you do, just don't mention anything about Texas, or the farm. The social worker told me that he has not yet found a way to deal with it, and that we should not upset him until he is ready to face his past."

"Alright, so I should also avoid saying anything about our father, right?"

Mom nodded, "Especially that, it would be better if we just wait for him to be ready to talk about it. So how was school today?"

"Good, there was a history test today, and I think that I did really good on it."

Mom raised an eyebrow, "really? History was never your best subject, I am proud of you! How about we have your favorite food as dinner to celebrate."

"Pancakes?"

"If it's pancakes you want, then it's pancakes we will eat. I'm sure that Alfred will like pancakes." I smiled. She was the only person who would never forget about me. I just hoped that this Alfred guy would not take my only form of attention away. I didn't really think that would happen though, it was just a little bit of doubt. The car came to a sudden stop and Mom unlocked the doors, "We're here."

XXX

I scanned the crowded airport for any sign of my twin brother, "What does he look like again?" I asked out loud.

"Well I wasn't given a description of what he looks like now, but when Alfred was just a baby, he had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, you two are twins so he most likely looks similar to you."

I nodded and looked for dirty blonde hair. Suddenly I saw a boy walking towards us with a woman in a gray suit. I tapped my mother's shoulder to get her attention, "Is that him?"

Mom's eyes lit up and she rushed over to the two people, I followed feeling a little less ecstatic. "Alfred!" She called out. She reached out her arms, and gave the boy a hug. He was wearing worn down jeans and a simple white hoodie that was torn in some places. He had dirty blonde hair that fell down his face in layers with a strand of his blonde locks sticking randomly in the air. His sparkling blue eyes were wide in surprise and his body stiffened, clearly confused on why this person was hugging him. Noticing how he wasn't hugging her back, Mom took a step back and she glanced at him in realization, "Sorry, I guess that I should have introduced myself instead of just hugging you right away." She then gently picked up Alfred's hand from his side and started to shake it. "My name is Sarah Williams."

"Oh!" Alfred exclaimed as he shook her hand in excitement. "I thought that you were just another random stranger. There are a lot of those around here. So you are my..."

"Mother. I am your birth mother," Mom said giving him a loving smile.

Alfred nodded in understanding, "So... I should call you Mom?"

Mom stared at him, "Only if you want to, you can take as long as you want to get used to your surroundings."

Alfred smiled, "Alright... Mom." Even though she made it look like it was no big deal before, her face shinned with glee after hearing Alfred refer to her as Mom. As Mom introduced herself to the social worker, Alfred walked up to me, "Are you Matthew?" I nodded and he gave me an excited smile, "Cool! I just found out that I had a twin just a little while ago. To think that somebody that looked just like me was living all the way across the country this whole time!" He took my hand and shook it enthusiastically. Wow, he was strong. I felt my hand crush under his grip and my arm wiggled weakly as he shook it.

"Well it's nice to see you too," I responded.

Alfred paused and looked at me in curiosity, "Say, what's with your voice?"

"M-My voice?"

He nodded, "You and Mom talk really funny."

I gave him a questioning look, "You mean our accents?" Alfred nodded, "Oh. We're Canadian."

Alfred's eyes widened, "I didn't know that you were from Canadia!"

"Well I wasn't born there, but my Mother was, and it's pronounced Canada."

Alfred shook his head, "No it's not, it's Canadia!"

Before I could correct him once again, I was interrupted, "Well, should we get going?" Mom asked. I nodded and we all started heading to the car.

XXX

"Here we are!" Mom cheered as we entered the apartment. We were greeted to a worn down apartment. The white paint on the wall was chipped, and the carpets were scrubbed to their breaking point from all of our attempts to clean them. The windows were covered in dust behind the torn curtains. There wasn't much of a view from them anyways. There was a single window that showed the busy street, below that window were the fire escapes, the rest of the windows were a couple feet away from meeting another brick building. There were only three rooms in the apartment. The room that we walked into was the biggest. We were greeted by crowding furniture. On the left side of the room, was a small living room section. There was a small loveseat that had stuffing sticking out of it in some places. In front of the loveseat, was an old TV that weighed about seventy pounds which was supported on a coffee table that would break any day now. I could see the legs of the coffee table start to splinter away. To the right of the room, was a small kitchen area completely covering the right wall. Three wooden counters were smashed together; the wood on it was starting to rot. Beside those three counters, was an overused gas stove and, besides that was a fridge that roared at random times in the night, jolting anybody awake from the loud noise. A small trash bin was placed off to the side along with the pantry since there was absolutely no room left on the right wall. In the middle of the room, was a wooden table with three chairs around it, there was usually only two, but that obviously had to change. Mom bought the extra chair a couple of days before Alfred's arrival. The back room was taken up by two doors. One door led to Mom's room, which contained a single twin-sized bed, and a dresser, nothing else would fit. Mom insisted that I had the bigger room. The other led to my room. "Matthew, could you please show Alfred your room while I talk with the social worker?"

I nodded, "Come on, Alfred." Alfred followed silently as I lead him to the door on the right. I swung open the door and entered my bedroom. It wasn't much. There was a single twin-sized bed in the corner of the room. Besides the door that led to my closet, there was a small desk that was covered in open textbooks. Next to that was a small bookcase where a small table lamp sat. "Do you need help with your bags-" I cut myself off as I saw Alfred place a single backpack onto the desk's chair. "Do you have any more bags in the car?"

Alfred shook his head, "Nope, this is it."

I unzipped his bag and looked inside, "It's mostly filled with books, don't you have any clothes or anything?"

Alfred moved me aside and rummaged through the bag until he was able to pull out a couple articles of clothing. It looked more like a pile of rags to me, "I have these."

I stared at the small pile of clothing in shock, he had so little. It really showed the life he lived in Texas, "I'll let you borrow some of my clothes."

Alfred's eyes lit up, "Really?"

I nodded, "You are definitely not going to school wearing _that _on Monday."

"Thanks!"

"Well I would give you a tour of the rest of the apartment, but there really isn't much left to show you."

"How about the bathroom?"

I shook my head, "The whole apartment building shares one bathroom, it's down stairs the fourth door to the right when you walk in."

Alfred nodded in understanding, "I can hold it. I will definitely get lost."

I chuckled, "I'll show you where it is after we get you all settled in."

"Matthew, Alfred," Mom called. We walked out of my room and into the main part of the apartment. "Are any of you hungry?"

"Where's Sophia?" Alfred asked. I could only guess that he was talking about the social worker.

"She left, but she wanted me to send you her best wishes."

Alfred nodded, "So what's for dinner?"

"Pancakes," I answered.

"Cool! Not every day do you have pancakes for dinner?"

"Actually, it's pretty normal for us."

Alfred turned to me wide eyed, "It is!? Wow! This place is awesome!" It was weird how Alfred didn't even take notice of the poor conditions in the apartment, as if it was just a normal house. Even when I told him where the bathroom was, he was worried that he was going to get lost, not that he had to share a single bathroom with everybody in the apartment. Now that I thought about it, this might have actually been considered as a great way of living compared to his life back in Texas. I didn't know every detail, but I knew what happened to him.

"Well, do you want me to show you where the bathroom is?" I asked.

Alfred nodded, "Yes! I didn't know that there was a bathroom on the plane so I didn't use it, and I can't remember the last time I went!" I opened the door and he followed me out into the hallway. It was dark and narrow, with only one window to shine light into since the hallway lights were busted. I lead him to the narrow stairs and the wooden steps creaked under our pressure. We walked down the stairs until we reached the ground floor; we lived on the fifth floor so this took quite a long time. I could hear voices down the hall, but they were only from the apartments. The walls were always thin. I lead him to the front door, and then started walking down the main hallway.

"Once you walk through the door, it's the fourth door to the right. Make sure you knock first," Alfred nodded and started pounding his fist on the door. The loud bangs echoed down the hallway, "but not so loud!"

Alfred paused, "Oh, my bad." He paused for moment and swung open the bathroom door after hearing no reaction to his loud knocking. He closed the door behind him and I paused for a minute, not knowing what to do next.

"Will you be able to find your way back to the apartment?" I asked.

"Ya, the hero never gets lost!"

"Er, alright." I decided to ignore his weird response and walked back up the stairs. I could already smell pancakes cooking. I quickly opened the apartment door and closed it behind me.

"Where's Alfred?" Mom asked.

"The bathroom, he said that he could find his way back on his own."

Mom placed a large pile of pancakes in the center of the table, "Well I hope that he doesn't get lost."

I nodded, "So what are we going to do about sleeping arrangements? We only have two beds in this apartment after all."

Mom hummed in thought, "I do suppose that is a problem. I guess that Alfred could sleep in my room and I sleep on the couch until we can figure something out."

"No!" I protested instantly. "You work very hard, you deserve to have a good night's rest. I will sleep on the couch."

Mom shook her head, "I work hard for you, and I certainly do not want you sleeping on an uncomfortable couch all night."

Suddenly I heard a knock on the door, "Ms. Williams, is something wrong with your son? He just asked me for directions to his own apartment." Mom and I shared a knowing look before I reached for the door. Standing in the doorway, was a tan teenager who had hair that was black, but sometimes looked blue in certain kinds of light. It was Juan, we walked to the bus stop together on school days. I met him when he moved here from Mexico with his family. He lived on the first floor, he must have heard Alfred wandering around in the hallway. Juan stared at me, then back at Alfred, then back at me, then back at Alfred, then back at me. He wore a completely confused expression, "¿Qué joder?"

I grabbed Alfred's hand and pulled him into our apartment, "Juan, this is Alfred. He's my brother that I was telling you about."

"You didn't tell me that you were identical!" Juan exclaimed. Alfred shook Juan's hand as strongly as he did with me when we first met.

"Hiya!"

"Hola, my name is Juan."

I closed my eyes and silently pleaded Alfred not to point out his Spanish accent. Luck was not on my side, "Hey! You have a funny accent too! Where are you from?"

Juan looked a little taken aback, "Funny? I- er- I'm from Mexico."

Alfred looked amazed, "Wow! I never met anybody from South America! That's where all of the pandas are, right?"

Juan stared at Alfred completely deadpanned, "What?"

I face palmed, "I'm sorry if he offended you."

Juan gave me a nod, and then turned back to Alfred, "Well it was nice to meet you... I guess." He then leaned over to me, "You might want to give him a geography lesson." I nodded in agreement and he then turned around. "Well, I will see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye!" I called quickly and shut the door. I sent a glare to Alfred, who gave me a sheepish smile, "Really? I thought you said that you wouldn't get lost."

Alfred shrugged like it was nothing, but his eyes showed relief that he had finally found the apartment, "I couldn't find the staircase."

I shook my head and sat down at the table, "By the way, Mexico is in North America, and pandas are in Asia."

"Well Asia is in South America, right?" I shook my head, "oh." Alfred stared at the pancakes in the middle of the table, "can we eat those?"

Mom laughed as she passed the pile of Pancakes around the table, "Well they certainly are not there for decoration." Alfred poured four pancakes onto the plate and started to bury them in maple syrup. He then grabbed a fork, and tried to shove a whole pancake into his mouth. To my amazement, he actually did it. I placed a single pancake onto my plate and added twice as much syrup as he did for four pancakes. I cut a piece of pancake off with my fork and put it into my mouth as Alfred chewed loudly. Maple syrup dribbled onto his chin and he wiped it with his hands, causing the syrup to spread and stick. Mom laughed at this and offered him a napkin, "Is it safe to say that you like them?" Alfred tried to respond, but the whole pancake in his mouth that he was trying to chew muffled every word he said. He simply nodded his head and gave her a syrupy smile. He finally swallowed the large piece of food and wipped his mouth with the napkin, "Now I am just letting you know that due to the bed shortages, you are going to sleep in my room."

Alfred looked up from his food, "Where are you going to sleep?"

"On the couch."

Alfred shook his head, "No. I'll sleep on the couch!"

Mom and I stared at him shocked, neither of us predicted that, "Are you sure?" I asked.

Alfred smiled, "Yeah, you guys took me in when I didn't have anywhere else to go, you did so much for me. You deserve to sleep in your own beds."

I stared at him, "I didn't do anything for you, that was Mom, you can take my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch."

Alfred shook his head, "You don't have that option, no matter what I am sleeping on that couch!" Declaring the end of the conversation, he shoved another pancake into his mouth. The rest of the time we spent eating consisted of small talk and trying to ignore Alfred's obnoxious table manners. Once dinner was finished, Mom insisted on doing the dishes and Alfred and I went to my room. I rummaged through my small closet and came out with a pair of jeans and a simple green tee-shirt with a small logo on the left shoulder.

I tossed the clothes to Alfred, "Here, try these on."

Alfred looked down at the clothing in his hands, "Why?"

"If you're going to borrow my clothes, we should at least make sure that you can fit into them."

Alfred looked around the room, "You want me to change here?" I nodded, "With you in the room?"

I sighed, "I'm not going to watch you! I'll have my back turned the whole time." Alfred nodded and refused to move a muscle until I was facing the opposite direction of him. I waited patiently as I heard him slipping out of the clothes he was wearing. After a minute or two, I turned around to see him staring at himself in the mirror and examining his clothes. They were a perfect fit. The blue jeans ended just below his ankles where his old pair of pants had to be rolled up. The green shirt wasn't baggy like his white hoodie and perfectly fit his figure.

"How does it look?"

I gave him a thumbs up, "You look great."

"Cool!"

"Alfred!" Mom called. Alfred exited my room after hearing his name being called and I followed him out curiously. Mom sat up from the couch, holding a cardboard box in her hands. She took one look at him and gave him a delighted smile, "You look so handsome! Did Matthew let you borrow some of his clothes?" I nodded and she happily thanked me. She then directed her attention back to Alfred. "I have a little welcome gift for you!"

Alfred's eyes widened in surprise, "You do?" Mom nodded and handed Alfred a wooden box. He opened it and gaped at what he saw. He raised the brown pile of fabric in his hands, and held it up to get a better view. In his hands, was a brown bomber jacket. His hands ran over the dark fur-lined collar and he stared at it in awe. The jacket had large pockets and a star surround by a thin circle on the upper right.

"Try it on!" Mom chirped excitably. Alfred slipped his arms into the jacket stared down. "You look amazing!" Suddenly Alfred's eyes became glossy and a tear ran down his cheek. Mom paused, "What's wrong?"

Alfred let out a choked sob and buried his head into his hands. I walked over to him and watched in worry. Alfred shook his head, "I'm sorry. This is probably not the reaction you were hoping for." He let more tears fall freely from his eyes, and let out a shaky breath. "It's just that... nobody has ever done anything so nice for me before. Just... Thank you." I gave Alfred a sweet smile, knowing that he was only crying from happiness.

Mom gave him a hug, "We're here for you now, Alfred." I rubbed his back in comforting circles until he calmed down and wiped his tears away. He gave us a warm smile, and the room fell into a comfortable silence. Mom stood from her seat and grabbed a towel from a clean laundry basket off to the side, "Well, I am going to see if nobody is using the bathroom, usually around this time of night, most people are sleeping."

Alfred nodded and let out a yawn, he waved her good bye, and soon laid down on the couch, "I have some pajamas if you want to use them." Alfred nodded and followed me into my room. I handed him a pair of pajama pants and a white tee-shirt. Then I left the room for him to get changed, because he would not stop staring at me uncomfortably until I either turned the other way or left the room. If that was how he normally acted when it came to changing with other people, then he was going to have a fit in the locker rooms on Monday. I grabbed an extra blanket from a closet and spread it across the couch. Alfred walked into the room as I placed a pillow against the arm rest, "There you go Alfred. Well I am going to get to sleep."

Alfred looked into my eyes, "Thank you." I would have taken this as just a normal thank you if it weren't for the way he looked at me. In his eyes I could practically see the large amount of gratitude he felt. He wasn't just thanking me for setting up his sleeping area, he was thanking me for everything.

"You're welcome," with that I left to my room to fall asleep.

XXX

I jerked awake and let out a gasp as I heard this loud bang. I let out a groan and jumped out of bed, it was the fridge again. I walked into the kitchen area to see that I was right. The fridge was roaring and started shaking, it did that once in a while, I never knew why. I heard a door open and Mom wobbled into the room, still barely awake. "Is it the fridge again?" I nodded.

"What time is it?"

Mom stopped and looked at the clock hanging on the wall, "Three oclock in the morning."

I yawned and squinted to read the clock in the darkness. Alfred must have been terrified by the sudden loud noise. It must have been twice as loud since he was sleeping in the same room as the monstrous fridge. I glanced over in Alfred's direction to see the scene I was least expecting. Alfred was curled up on the couch, sleeping like a baby. I had absolutly no idea how he could sleep through that. His chest was rising and falling calmly and some drool dripped from his mouth to his pillow. I pointed over in Alfred's direction, "Is he deaf?"

Mom chuckled, "From the looks of it he is just a heavy sleeper."

"A _really_ heavy sleeper." We took a seat at the table and started to wait for the fridge to stop making so much noise, usually it only took a couple of minutes. "Hey, how much did Alfred's jacket cost?" I asked glancing over at the sleeping teenager. He insisted on wearing it even while he was sleeping.

Mom shrugged, "it didn't cost too much, it was on sale."

I gave her a serious look, "Didn't cost too much? That is real leather and real fur, I'm sure that the sale wasn't that much of a saver."

Mom gave me a look, "It cost forty dollars, but I had it on layaway for a while, so it didn't cost much for that good of a jacket. Now what did I say about worrying about money? We are going to be fine no matter what happens, do you understand?" I nodded, "Good. I just don't want you to put so much stress on yourself, I know how much you kids have to worry about these days. High school definitely got harder from when I was a kid. I see you kids lugging around bags that weigh more than you do. Nowadays you children are put under so much stress, you definitely don't need any more."

I nodded in agreement and smiled at her, "Alright, I'll leave it to you to worry about the money." With that the fridge stopped and we went our separate ways back to bed. As Mom already left to her room, I paused with my hand on my bedroom door's handle. I couldn't rid the feeling that I was being watched. I turned my head and could I sworn that I saw a pair of light blue eyes looking back at me. I shook my head and glanced at Alfred again, he was still sleeping, snoring lightly and drooling. I shook the creeped out feeling away and opened my door. As I hopped into bed, I thought about everything that happened today. In one single afternoon, so much changed. While other kids were at the mall and hanging out with their friends, I was meeting my twin brother who was separated from me just a couple months after birth, and was living in a state across the whole country this whole time. I shut my eyes and snuggled under the covers, I couldn't exactly promise myself that things were going to get better, but I fell asleep peacefully due to the fact that things were certainly going to change.

XXX

**Author's notes: Sorry for the long wait! I had a lot of writing to do besides this story. Also yes, I did add Mexico in here, because Mexico is f*cking amazing. He wasn't given a character name, so I just looked him up on one of those fan character websites. I went with Juan, and what he said when he walked was "What the fuck" in Spanish (I used internet translation, sorry if it's wrong.) By the way, PruCan is not a pairing that I am using in this story. There is just going to be bromance… and lots of it.**

**I am aware that Alfred was a little OOC in this chapter, but that was just because this chapter didn't leave me much room to give you a full introduction of him. He becomes more in character later. Also I'm pretty sure that at some point of this chapter, you were questioning what the bloody hell happened in Texas… that will be explained in full detail later on in the story. You can take a wild guess from what information I gave you so far though.**

**Please review and thank you for reading! Next chapter will be updated by next week!**


	8. The better cook

I sighed in relief of finally getting this job done. I stared around the men's bathroom. It was just the prototypical bathroom in an Italian restaurant. There really was no plain wall, it was really just one giant mural, one of an ancient Roman setting that you could possibly see in a history textbook. The urinels were polished and not a single inch of toilet paper was on the white tiled floor. The bathroom counters that held the pearl white sinks were made completely out of marble and mahogany wood. Besides the sink were bars of soap that were carved out into certain shapes, because only Feliciano would take the time to carve a plate of pasta into a bar of soap. The only thing that was missing in this lovely bathroom was the hand-made rug that usually covered the smooth tiles. That hung over a bathroom stall so that I could mop up a mess that a young couple dared to make before making a run for it and diner dashing. The lights were dimmed, and the Italian opera music that usually played was dead. After all, it was way past closing hours. I shoved the mop back into the mop bucket almost violently. I rolled the bucket off to the side and threw the red-patterned lush rug over the drying floor.

_Who the hell decides to have sex in a public bathroom?_

I let out a low growl at the thought. I even had to stay after hours just to clean that shit up! I rushed to the kitchen and started to scrub my hands with about a gallon of soap. This was _my_ restaurant; I should have paid more attention and realized that something was going on before the disgusting couple exited the place. I let out a sigh as I rubbed my hands with a nearby towel. "We really should hire a janitor."

Antonio walked into the kitchen with a handful of dirty dishes, "Hey Lovino! Are you almost ready to go? It's pretty late and I'm done with my work."

I glared at the Spanish employee; my anger wasn't really directed towards him. I was just still pissed about having to serve a couple who later messed up the bathroom and didn't even bother to pay for their bill. I really shouldn't have been mad at Antonio, after all, he did stay late with me to help clean up the rest of the restaurant while I spent the rest of my shift in the bathroom. "Almost, I just finished cleaning the bathroom."

Antonio stared at me, "What happened in the bathroom anyway? Did somebody throw up?"

I shook my head, "No, even worse. Some couple wanted to _make love _in the bathroom."

"Wait a minute, how did they get married in the bathroom, and how would that make a mess?" Antonio asked as he placed the dishes in a dishwasher.

I glared at Antonio in disbelief, "Are you serious? It wasn't that kind of love they were making you bastard!" The manger had a fit too, and what did she do? She decided to blame it all on me of-fucking-course. She made me stay late to scrub the bathroom clean while she, her husband, and Feliciano went home to get some sleep.

I could hear Antonio's stomach growl, "Lovi, I'm hungry."

"What do you want me to do about it?" I asked completely annoyed.

"Can you cook me something?" Anger swelled up inside of me, "Why are you looking at me like that? You love to cook!"

"That doesn't mean that I'm your new personal chef!" I exploded. "You want food, then-" I glanced around the kitchen, my eyes landed on the fridge. I yanked it open and snatched a large plastic container. I shoved it in his hands, "-then heat this up!" I stormed out of the kitchen and into the main eating area. Chairs were stacked onto the tables and the floor was swept and mopped. It was not like I was expecting more customers, the restaurant was already closed, the only people left in the building were Antonio and I. It was so quiet that I could hear the cars passing by in the streets. Out the windows I could see the orange glow from the street lights reflecting off of the paved parking lot. I picked a chair off of one of the tables and placed it on the floor. I was about to head back to the bathroom to take care of the mop bucket when Antonio entered the room, much to my surprise with two plates instead of one. "What's that?"

Antonio smiled at me and placed the two plates on the table, "the food you told me to heat up! There was extra so I figured that you might be hungry too." He walked around the table and placed the other chair down on the ground so that I could sit with him, "Take a seat before it gets cold!"

I hesitated before finally deciding to deal with the mop bucket later, "Alright, I guess that it won't hurt to join you." I took a seat and we began to eat.

XXX

Antonio shoved the last piece of his food in his mouth with delight, "That was really good!"

I glanced down at my lap, "I guess so, but it could have been better."

The man sitting across from me was practically licking the plate clean at this point. "Could have been better? How? My favorite part was the extra tomato, now _that_ really made the meal.

I simply shrugged, "It's just lasagna, nothing to be so ecstatic over."

Antonio picked up his plate and stood from his seat, "I'll have to ask Feliciano to make some more."

I felt my heart sink a little, of course he would think that Feliciano made it, because his brother isn't capable of doing anything. I stood up and pushed in my chair. At this point I was just ready to go home and go to sleep. "What time is it anyways?"

Antonio yawned as he took a glance at his watch, "its half past midnight."

I let out a frustrated groan, "That's fucking wonderful, because the one thing that I love the most is a nine hour shift."

Antonio laughed as he started to take the plates to the kitchen, "It's not that bad! Gilbert would love to be in your shoes!"

"Well Gilbert can fucking have my shoes, I will give them away for free! We'll see how much he loves cleaning up sticky body fluids, he will crawl back to me on his knees begging for me to take the shoes back," I called across the restaurant.

"No he wouldn't, he would just be happy that he owns the restaurant!" I could hear Antonio placing the dishes into the dishwasher. I tapped my foot impatiently as he slowly made his way back to the eating area.

"I don't own it until I turn eighteen," I growled. "Until then, the manager and her husband have complete control of the restaurant." I shoved my arms into the sleeves of my jacket and zipped up the warm fabric over me. I took a quick glance at the bathroom doors. I then shook my head deciding that I could take care of the mop bucket some other time. I simply didn't feel like it.

Antonio paused after he heard my words, "Say, why don't you just call them your parents?"

I stopped as I reached for the restaurant keys in my pocket and stared back at the Spanish teen. "What do you mean?"

Antonio cocked his head to the side, "You always call your mom 'the manager' and you always call your dad 'her husband' why don't you just call them your parents?"

I let my bangs cover my eyes as I counted the tip money that I received for the night; about fifty dollars, it probably would have been more if I didn't have to pay for the diner dashers' meal. "I-I call them my parents sometimes." I fumbled with the keys to the restaurant and stared down at the wooden floors.

Antonio shook his head, "I never heard you refer to them as your parents. When was the last time that you called them 'mom and dad'?"

I looked up from the small wad of cash and glared at him, "Well I do! You just don't listen!" I referred to them as my mother and my father sometimes, just never aloud for others to hear, especially my parents. I just never had a close relationship with them. I glared at the ground as I furrowed my eyebrows. Now that I thought of it, I couldn't remember having a real conversation with them. Usually we just talked (When I said talked, I meant argued of course, but this is my fucking point of view and I will make my damn background sound much better than it already was if I want to dammit!) about the restaurant, the only time we didn't talk (argue) about it was when Feliciano was around. The second Feliciano talks to them I am completely ignored and all attention is turned to him, completely throwing whatever conversation we were having at the time out the window.

"Lovino?" Antonio asked hesitantly ripping me away from my thoughts. I looked up at him in questioning, "Are you ready to go? Like I said, it's pretty late."

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm more than happy to finally have this Saturday night be over."

"Technically it's Sunday morning."

"I don't care for your technicalities, I just want to go to bed!" I set the security alarm before we exited the building and I locked the doors behind me. We walked through the empty parking lot in silence, the only sound was the city and our footsteps hitting the pavement. This wasn't exactly New York City, where the streets were busy and alive twenty-four-seven. No, this city was only half awake. The road that was usually crowded during the day, had about ten cars on it. Antonio and I easily crossed it and started walking down one of the side streets. My house was only a couple of streets away from the restaurant, it was about twenty minutes away on foot. Antonio lived a bit closer, so we really had no excuse for refusing to stay late unless we had something important to do. "I swear, every day the manager makes me stay later than the day before. If I have to stay later than twelve thirty on Monday, I am seriously going to flip."

Antonio nodded in agreement, "Well at least tomorrow is Sunday! Vargas is never open on Sunday!"

"Yeah, this was still a pretty shitty weekend for me though. While you went lazar tagging, I had to do twice as much work to cover for your absence!"

Antonio stopped in his tracks and stared at me, "Did you really?" For once his cheerful expression faded and he wore a guilty frown, "I'm sorry Lovi! Next time I go out with Francis and Gilbert i'll make sure that it's on a day that I scheduled for a day off!"

I halted and stared into his glossy olive eyes, they were always so full of emotion, I liked them better when they shined with glee. Suddenly I felt a thick rain drop hit the top of my head. I glanced upwards into the sky, the stars were not visible, only this time from thick storm clouds instead of light pollution. I let out an annoyed groan, "It doesn't really matter, I got extra tip money because of your absence anyway. Let's hurry up, It's going to storm any second now."

Antonio's gloominess vanished instantly and he gave me a smile, "Yay! I'm glad that you're not mad!" He looked up into the dark sky with curiosity, "Is it really going to rain?" As if answering his question, a sudden flash of lightning whipped through the city, the Spaniard let out a startled shriek and jumped a mile. I followed his actions at the sudden clap of thunder that followed instantly. We stared at each other wide-eyed until Antonio let out a nervous laugh, "I guess that you were right."

"No shit Sherlock," I glared at the sky as we started walking again, only this time at a faster pace. "Let me stay at your house for the night, it's going to pour soon and I don't feel like running all the way to my house. Yours is closer."

Antonio's eyes lit up at my request, "Really!? You want to have a sleep over!?"

I turned my head to hide my blush and glared at the mailbox to my left, "Sure, if you want to call it that then go ahead."

Antonio started bouncing in excitement, "Yes! This is going to be so much fun!" I rolled my eyes as he started fist-pumping the air.

I lifted the hood of my jacket over my head as I saw the pavement was painted with rain drops, "Let's go before the snow turns to slush." We raced through the streets as the rain became thicker. Our feet thundered against the concrete and our clothes absorbed the pouring water. We were soaking to the bone before we came anywhere close to Antonio's house. "Are we there yet?" I panted. I was starting to run out of air due to all of the running. I started to breathe through my mouth, but that ended with me practically drinking the dirty rain. I gaged and shut my mouth immediately.

"Yes!" Antonio called, "We're just a couple of houses away! Hey this is kind of fun!"

"No it's not!" I growled, "I'm completely soaked and it is freezing out! You'd think it would be snowing instead of raining!"

"It's not that bad! You're probably just cold because you're covered in water. It's forty degrees tonight. I'm telling you, this has to be one of the most bipolar winters ever. One day it snows a couple of feet on the ground and the next it's practically spring!"

"Well hopefully it won't snow ever again until next year!" It was hard to hear him over the heavy raindrops splattering on the road, we had to practically scream at each other.

"WE'RE HEAR!" Antonio swerved to his right and ran through his driveway, I followed close behind. Antonio lived in one of the very few Spanish-styled houses in the entire city, even in the dimmed glow of the street lights I could tell the difference between his house and every other house. Antonio fumbled with the keys then finally unlocked the damn door. I practically flew through the doorway in desperation for someplace warm.

"It could have rained any night, why this one!?"

"Shhhhhhhhhhh!" Antonio shushed me and glanced around in the darkness. "¡La mamá duerme!"

I stopped in the middle of my rant; I honestly forgot about his mother. "Are you sure that she would alright with me staying over?"

"I'm sure, she loves it when I bring friends over, just don't wake her up!" He whispered. "The last thing you want is a cranky mamá." I couldn't really imagine Antonio's mother when she's angry, she always shared Antonio's cheerfulness. I took his word for it though, I never liked it when somebody interrupted my sleeping time either. "Take off your clothes."

I gave Antonio a weird look, "Why would I do that you perverted bastardo!?"

Antonio shushed me once again at the sound of my raising voice, "I don't want any water being dragged around the house, then I will have to clean it all up!"

"So you just want me to strip and walk around naked!?" I whispered harshly.

"No, leave your boxers on and I will get you some pajama pants or something," Antonio said as he quickly slipped out of his shirt. I tried to pay attention to something else as the Spanish boy unzipped his pants. The only thing that was slightly interesting was watching the storm outside. The thunder roared and lightning lit up the city for a split second before disappearing. "There, you see?" Antonio said drawing my attention away from the window.

I could feel my face heating up at the sight of Antonio wearing nothing but his boxers, I covered my eyes and turned away, "Why the fuck did you want me to see that!?"

"I was just showing you that you didn't have to take _everything _off. You do that while I go find you something to wear for the night." With that Antonio practically danced across the room and up the stairs. He looked like a complete idiot, but I knew that he did it to avoid the squeaky floor boards. He most likely knew where the wooden floors made the most noise.

I stripped my jacket and tossed it on the floor, before I could do anything else, I felt my left pocket vibrate in my jeans. I took out the slightly wet flip phone and placed it to my ear, "Hello?"

"LOVINO! THANK GOD, I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! IT'S VERY LATE AND I WAS HOPEING THAT YOU WEREN'T LOST OR ANYTHING!"

I sighed after hearing my frantic brother practically having a panic attack over the phone, "Feliciano, I'm fine. You were worrying over nothing. I was just at the restaurant."

"Well where are you now!?"

"I'm at Antonio's house, I'm staying over for the night."

There was a pause, then I heard a loud sigh of relief, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just decided to stay at Antonio's less than ten minutes ago," I declared while rolling my eyes.

There was a pause, Feliciano was most likely trying to calm himself down, "Please don't do that to me again! I was so worried that I got dizzy, and now I'm still dizzy from relief, I think that I might pass out!"

"Well then get some rest Feliciano," I told him while yawning, "I'll meet you at church tomorrow."

"A-Alright! I love you Lovino!"

"Love you too, bye." I flipped my phone shut and placed the electronic on the coffee table besides me. I tore off my soaked shoes and ripped off my socks, they were sticking to my feet due to being so damp. Just as I jumped out of my jeans, Antonio decided to return with a pair of pajama pants. I jumped from his sudden appearance, and he let out a chuckle.

"Did I scare you?"

My face blushed and I used my oversized t-shirt to hide the upper half of my legs, "N-No you bastard! I just didn't see you at first!"

I could barely see Antonio's smile through the darkness as he tossed me some soft-fabricated pants, "You can wear this for the night, I'll put your wet clothes in the dryer so that you can wear them tomorrow."

"Whatever." I slipped on the pajama pants with dispatch, then took off my soaking wet shirt. In one quick move, I scooped up the pile of wet clothes and tossed it to Antonio, "Here." I took a seat on the couch and waited for Antonio. I could hear him shoving the wet clothes into the dryer and the soft roar of the machine. Antonio reappeared into the living room soon after.

"Come on, let's go to my room," I wordlessly followed the cheerful Spaniard through the house. We approached a large wooden door and I pushed it open. Antonio's bedroom was fairly large. The walls were plainly white with a wooden boarding, but the windows were large and decorative. The first thing I saw when I walked in was his large queen-sized bed. The bed matched the walls, the sheets were pure white, but the headboard had wooden-carved decorative patterns. Besides the bed, was a small wooden nightstand where a white vase stood. I had no idea why Antonio out of all people had such a plain room, the rest of his house was so colorful, even the exterior. The only part of the room that showed any bit of his personality was the right wall of his room, which was where he posted all of the notes that him, Gilbert, Francis made during class. It was hard to see what was on the notes however due to the lack of light. "You can have the bed, I'll take the floor," Antonio whispered. He took a pillow off of the bed and placed it on the floor, and then he rummaged through his closet until he pulled out a red hand-made blanket and plopped onto the bedroom floor with it landing over him.

I crawled onto the bed and buried myself under the covers. I laid there for a while staring up at the ceiling, how was it that I was so tired, yet I couldn't fall asleep? I started to think about the events that happened today, what Antonio said was still bugging me, I'm sure that he didn't mean it, but it annoyed me anyways. Finally I rolled over to Antonio's direction, "Hey Antonio," I whispered through the darkness.

"Mmhmm?"

I hesitated, "W-What would you say... if _I _made the lasagna instead of Feliciano?"

There was a pause, "Then I would say that you're a good cook," He murmured.

I stared at the body on the ground, Antonio was facing the other way, so it was hard to see whether he was lying or not, "R-Really?"

"Mmhmm, why don't you cook at the restaurant instead?"

"Because my parents believe that Feliciano is the better cook," I whispered.

"Well then they don't know what they're missing," His voice was drowsy and it started to fade off into just soft humming. I stared at the lump under the covers for a while. Then Antonio finally turned around, he was still humming, and his eyes were closed. It looked like he was having a good dream.

I whipped my body around and made sure that I was facing opposite from him, "Of course you wouldn't be awake, you bastard. It's not like anybody would say that when they are conscience." I suddenly felt drowsiness from the flooding disappointment. I wiped a single tear forming in the corner of my eye as I welcomed a night full of dreams that were hopefully something better than reality. I closed my eyes and waited for my fantasies to take me away from here.

XXX

**Author's Note:**** It's Spring!... and not a single strand of grass is visable due to all of the snow... Sorry for the slow update! I probably would have gotten this done on Wednesday if I didn't go to a Lindsey Stirling concert. (Which was amazing by the way) **

**Anyways I have not been the best with updates lately, and this is because I have been trying to focus on tying all of the lose ends and finish my other story Flowers of Red, White, and Blue. No matter what I am not putting this story on the sidelines though. So I have been going back and forth with these two stories and it has thrown me off for a bit, but I'm back now and ready to write! Flowers of Red, White, and Blue will be updated as soon as possible and so will another chapter for this story!**

**Next chapter we are going back to the German brothers which will be told from Ludwig's point of view!**


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